Kate and I spent most of the weekend at Harper's Ferry at the Amnesty International Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference.  I was there to promote my Special Focus Case issues, and I led a short rah rah rally and helped facilitate a session on Filep and Yusak.  For more on the case, click here.  It was nice to spend some time with Kate before the wedding craziness hits us full force.  

We listened to a speaker from Darfur who described his family's plight as their village was destroyed -- you can read about these things, but just to hear even a little from someone who was there, even if they don't go into detail, is so powerful.  We also heard a woman who has published a book on child soldiers...13 countries have them.  She described how you don't just march in and ask to take photos -- it's very difficult, plus she wanted to not harm the children by publishing their photos in her book -- so it was all very delicate.  So much of it boils down to poverty -- the kids are desperate in some way that's always related to poverty, and they feel that going off with these groups will be an improvement for them and their families -- actually they're becoming slaves who carry weapons and are told to kill people.  

On a brighter note, Kate and I stopped at a mall on our way home and got a little bit of Christmas/wedding shopping done.