invisible children and missing people

so... once upon a time in my life, i had learned how to become virtually emotionless. deciding that this was not the path i wanted my soul to take, i made decisions to become more human again - allow emotions, allow my heart to beat for passions i had lost, etc - invisible children, the rough cut, was the first thing i saw post-decision and the first time i realized i still had a heart for injustice - that was in 2006.

after a couple of months in ostrava, i noticed that there didn't seem to be many "causes" people could attach to - granted - i know a very small portion of the population and know even less of

 the language, so i really have a biased judgment of the culture - but, it felt very contrasted to orlando which was constantly flooded by cause after cause, injustices piled upon one another. orlando is goodwill for causes, of sorts - it's cool while it's trendy and some people will keep that plaid shirt forever, others will wear the shirt for a while, then  give it to thrift and move on to the next trendy injustice -- it's then up to you to sort through the racks and piles of causes and organizations, worn and left behind by others, try them on, see which one suits you, and leave with a greater purpose. i, myself have tried on caribbean poverty, human trafficking in thailand, feeding the homeless and more. i still don't know which i want to pursue. i think it's ok to take your time deciding. but - you shouldn't try on forever. the thing is, the more injustices you become aware of, the more apathetic you can become. there are just too many, there is just too little you can do, there isn't enough time or money, etc. OR you can embrace it - embrace one or 2 that make your heart go boom, boom, pow and then run with it - which is what invisible children is - an organization where 3 young men saw an injustice far bigger than themselves and far beyond their reach and they walked out with it on - and made and organization that is beautiful. i wanted to help bring that organization here. i wanted ostrava to have the chance to try on another cause and see if it fits. but - i am lazy and don't speak czech and didn't try too hard. luckily for me, tyna wanted to bring it here as well. her and her schoolmates decided this would be their project for a class - to put on a screening event. tyna heard i am a big fan of IC and asked if i wan

ted to help - yes, of course. 

my help included brainstorming with her, deciding to do the Rescue in our city and speaking for .2 at the events with a translator. she, the rockstar that she is, along with her friends pulled off several screenings over the course of 3 weeks or so - in high schools and cafes and began to spread the word about this injustice, that in my opinion, ostrava is hungry for. 

so the Rescue was on April 25 -- including a walk through the City Center and down streets to the Town Hall. We spent the evening writing letters to politicians, 

creating art, hanging out, hoping that ostrav-ites would wake up to the injustice happening in the world around them. about 80 people came out - which was beyond incredible. and about 10 of us stayed til dawn. 

so - here's some pics (taken by the one and only gina dimarcantonio)

... and that leads me to the next blog...