Wednesday, August 5, 2009

First Day of "Work"

Exactly what I expected. After being the last to wake, all 60 of us anxiously rode our way towards the long awaited expectation of the Invisible Children office. We were quizzed, questioned, entertained, and most of all challenged today in the meeting room. Soon my true character will come out, and I just can't wait to look it in the eyes. 
Meeting all of these new amazing people is truthfully tiring and overwhelming but o soo rewarding. Everyone had their own great story, and I am always excited to hear one of the newly arrived roadie's story of how he began his trip into the world of IC. 
The sound of the typing on my teammates laptop keyboard almost completely shut out the sounds of the guitars being played on the porch. But not quite, and I love it. I dont really understand why either, maybe how relaxing or comforting the sound is. 
Right now my thoughts wonder back and for worth between writing this and all the overwhelming information we are held responsible to memorize. But today I learned a valuable lesson, hopefully not a temporary one, but a change that will that will last indefinitely. As one of our IC team leaders was giving an invigorating lecture about an interview he had with a very lucky individual in Northern Uganda I had a realization. This man had been fighting for the LRA forcefully for the past couple of years. He told Ben Keesey (CEO of IC) that he had been happy his leg had been shot and later removed because he got to escape the LRA forever and never had to return to that kind of torture and pain. After hearing this story and how it affected Ben, and how a man instead did not complain because he got his leg removed from the knee down but actually enjoyed the gift of leaving the Army because of it I came to the conclusion that I have never really had anything to complain about. What I complain about daily is nothing compared to the horrible atrocities happening right now as I simply type away. But now I can say that I Steven Penner, a sacrificial Roadie, is doing something to stop it. Whether I am one ant in the anthill or a main decision maker in IC, I know that there is hope for me to use my talents and achievements to further push the boundaries of Invisible Children and its motives. 

No comments:

Post a Comment