Hello Friends and Family!

It has been a while since you’ve heard from me. In my last update, I was about to embark on the great adventure that is being a Roadie for Invisible Children.

To sum it up, and not do any justice to the experience, it was life changing and wholly worth every second. My team of four Americans and two Ugandans spent ten weeks in a van traveling across Texas and Louisiana spreading awareness about a conflict affecting millions of people in Eastern Africa. We were able to impact students and adults here in the States, and share ways that they were able to change the lives of students, specifically in northern Uganda.

As the tour came to a close I was asked to return for the Fall Tour and I have decided to say yes and continue this journey that started back in January. I will be a Team Leader for the Pacific Northwest team. We will be traveling through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. I love this part of the country and am so stoked to be able to traverse and serve in that region.

This internship will be from July 12-December 16ish and, as you can probably guess, I will be volunteering. Gratefully, I will receive a small stipend as this is my second tour but I still need to raise most of my support.

Functioning as a Team Leader, there is much more on my plate this go around and as such, I need your prayers, good thoughts, and encouragement. I’m really looking forward to the added challenges as well as learning to work with my new team.

As I mentioned before, the financial aspect is real and stressful. We all know this; money is never a fun thing to talk about and can add a lot of mental strain, so it would mean the world to me if you would consider partnering with me in this way. I have several different giving options, just to make it as easy as possible:

1. Buy a Photo: Win win situation, you help support me and I get you a sweet print from one of my travels!! www.tayloradamswift.com (if you need any help ordering off this site, I’m happy to help.)
2. Tax free Donation through Invisible Children: It’s quick, easy, and a tax write off! The Donation Page
3. Donate through Paypal: On my blog I have a donation link that accepts either Paypal or credit/debit cards! www.taylorswiftphoto.com/blog

If you decide to support me, THANK YOU! Either way, please keep up with my adventure on my blog!! There it is; the awkward part is over now!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for keeping up with the craziness that is my life.

Taylor

It’s been a while. Life has been super busy and full of crazy schedules and neglecting to update my blog and the thousands and thousands of followers I have.

Here are a few pictures from my Easter Sunday with my team. I’m sure my family will enjoy seeing that I wasn’t sitting home alone on Easter. This internship has been a huge learning process and has revealed a lot.

Are we more worried about our children’s grades than their morality?

We were not created for a life of mediocrity, within each of us is the ability to change the world.

Our realm of influence is larger than we know, how are we influencing and what are our lives encouraging them to do?

If you were to spend 3 months with someone you just met, what would they say about you after wards?

“There is a fundamental truth to our nature, Man must explore.” – Dave Scott

Get out there, enjoy the world, create positive change.

This internship lasts for 1 more month. It has been so incredible! Thank you to every one who has supported me through this experience, whether financially or through encouragement and prayer, it has been much needed and greatly appreciated. This last month is going to be so good, I’m looking forward to finishing strong and concluding this tour with the same enthusiasm that I started with.

In that same breath, I still need help. Life on the road has been cheaper than I anticipated so I have made it quite far. However, it isn’t free and in order to focus all my energy into the job at hand I need a little financial stability. Any amount you can help with is needed and a huge help. Here is the link to my account through Invisible Children, (a tax-deductible donation) where they will in turn send me a check.

Thanks so much!!!

Hello Friends and Fam!

I’ll jump right in.

Just this week I got an internship with an amazing non-profit organization, Invisible Children. The crazy part is it starts next week!

Invisible Children Inc. (IC) is a Non-Profit organization that was started when three young filmmakers went to Africa looking for a story to tell.  What they discovered was a 20 year long war in Northern Uganda that has affected hundreds of thousands of people, primarily children.  These children are abducted almost daily, the boys are forced to fight as child soldiers, the girls, used as sex slaves and those who refuse are murdered violently as an example to the rest.  The non-profit was birthed out of the response to the original documentary these three young filmmakers created.  Today, IC continues to work to bring peace to Northern Uganda through programs aimed at raising awareness here in the States, and provide relief on the ground in Northern Uganda.  Unfortunately, no matter how well I explain the complexities of the situation, I know that I won’t be able to fully communicate the realities of this crisis.  I truly wish I could send a copy of the DVD to each of you.  If you ever have a chance, please watch it, it’s called Invisible Children. A picture is worth a thousand words and a movie, perhaps even more.

The next national tour has divided the country into 10 different regions. The region that I was chosen for is Texas/Louisiana! Starting in January and ending in May, I will have the privilege of traveling around TX and LA with a team of three others. While we are on tour we will be screening the DVD mainly at high schools but also colleges and churches. We will be promoting a new program called Schools 4 Schools where schools in the states will team up to raise money for schools in Uganda. While living in San Diego I work 30+ hours a week in the IC office calling schools in my region trying to set up assemblies for the tour. What’s even more exciting is we will have Lilian, from the IC film GO, and her mentor on tour with us. She is from Uganda and will be sharing her story while traveling with us. This is really awesome because she puts a real tangible face to the cause of IC.

How I Need You. First and foremost I need your prayers. Please keep me in your hearts and daily prayers as I enter into this incredibly exciting and rewarding season of my life. I think it’s safe to say that this experience will stretch me like no other season has. Second, I am writing to seek financial sponsorship. This is a volunteer position and for the 5 months I’m here life goes on outside of the internship. IC takes care of transportation and has a network of people we will be staying with on the road. I have student loans and will have day-to-day expenses such as groceries, toiletries, and any unforeseen costs. Any money that comes in will help offset these expenses and is tax deductible. My goal is to raise $2500 for the 5 months. If you are able to donate I’ve added a button on my blog that takes you through Paypal, or you can send a check to IC where they have an account set up for me:

Invisible Children, Inc.

Direct Support for Taylor Swift

1620 Fifth Ave, Suite 400

San Diego, CA 92101

Thanks so much for taking the time to read all this and I look forward to sharing the adventures with you from the road.

I’ll try to keep up with the blog during the internship and post pics when I can of the venues and people we are impacting.

Below are some links if you want more info.

Thanks again,

Taylor

For more information on Invisible Children Inc. go to www.invisiblechildren.com

For more information on the current situation in Northern Uganda, go to www.ugandacan.com