Date night with M.

Yesterday afternoon M and I went to a screening of "Go", a documentary about the children/teens living in Uganda who are abducted and forced to fight as soldiers in the war lead by Joseph Kony. One of the teens featured in the documentary is a teenager named Papito; when he was very young, his father was shot and (skip the next few sentences if you have a weak stomach) "chopped into pieces", as Papito put it. His mother was raped and his sister was abducted. Shortly after Papito's sister was taken, his mother abandoned him. While we were five years old and watching "Full House", Papito was witnessing the aforementioned evils. After the end of the documentary, Papito entered the auditorium to speak with us and give us Q&A time. I was so impressed with his composure and strength. Boyfriend M and I found out during the information session at the end that it only costs $35 a month to put a Ugandan child/teen through school. The Ugandan children/teens are eager to have the opportunity and they embrace it. (Shameless plug: If you want to send a Ugandan child/teen to school, it will only cost around $1.15 a day. If you're interested and want to learn more, click here). The documentary was so powerful and when I have the financial means to send someone to school in Uganda, I'm going to.

The Invisible Children van parked outside the auditorium; Invisible Children is the program that drives cross-country to show the documentary to schools, churches, etc. Invisible Children is "committed to supporting local leaders in the peaceful recovery of Northern Uganda through innovative developmental programs", according to their website.

*You can also send a Ugandan to the university for $65 a month, or you can send partial donations at a minimum of $10 a month.

Because I want to end this post light-heartedly, I will tell y'all about the little place boyfriend M and I went for dinner. It's called Coney Island and it's on one of the popular streets in our college town. Their motto? "Nobody beats our weiners." They have cozy booths for two, booths big enough to squeeze six or eight, and each table is littered with an assortment of condiments. Team pennants and pictures of customers (some famous and some local) cover the walls. Since I was starving, I ordered three coneys; two with cheese and one with cheese, jalapenos, hot sauce, onions, and cayenne powder. They were all three delicious and priced really well - only $1.50 each during the 4-7pm happy hour! I definitely want to go back, but next time I want to go around 11pm, grab a seat on the bar stools by the window and people watch while chowing on my coneys.

Fun, old-fashioned sign hanging outside the restaurant

This post is different than some of my previous posts, but if the story of the Ugandan children/teens upset you and made you want to help, check out their website to learn more.

Thanks for reading and I hope you all had a good day!