UNCW students displaced themselves at River Front Park in downtown Wilmington Saturday night, April 19 to experience life as the relocated children in Uganda.

While everyone did have to pack up and leave around 4:30 a.m. by car due to rain, director of the Invisible Children program at UNCW Jonathan Paschal still considers the night a success.

“We had a great turnout,” Paschal said. “Over 100 people joined in on the walk and a few more have come since we got here [at River Front Park].”

Students gathered at Kenan Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night to begin the trek. They walked down Randall Dr. to Kerr Avenue. and made a left on Market Street, following it all the way to the Cape Fear River.

“We had a great crew,” Paschal said. “We stopped when we needed to and everyone stayed together.”

He added, “We had lots of support. People honked their horns and waved, which really built us up.”

The five-mile walk ended around 9 p.m., two hours after departure time.

Freshman Kristen Herridge made half of the trip even with a broken ankle. After getting dropped off at Port City Java, she joined the walkers for the last hour of the trek.

“I wanted to do the walk because it’s a big part of the experience,” Herridge said. “It’s a really great cause and I didn’t want to miss it because of my foot.”

Other supporters of Invisible Children gathered on the ground with sleeping bags and backpacks, getting ready for the long night ahead. The chilly air didn’t seem to discourage anyone as they spent the night talking, writing, watching documentaries, and listening to music.

“We’re going to be writing to senators and sending the letters to them this week,” said Paschal. “After they receive a certain amount of letters, they have to read them.”

Mike Blair, a student musician, joined the cause to entertain the crowd with his acoustic guitar. He has played at a few screenings of Invisible Children in the past.

The event also drew onlookers in downtown Wilmington.

“We had a lot of people walk by and stop to ask questions,” Paschal said.

The displacement walk was originally supposed to take place Friday 18 on campus.

“We changed the date and Parks and Recreation of Wilmington allowed us to do it downtown,” Paschal said.

“The toughest part was getting the location and explaining to people what we wanted to do,” said Invisible Children committee member Blake Lowder. “We really wanted to do the walk because it’s half of the battle.”

“I thought it would be fun to support a great cause, meet new people, and sleep under the stars,” Herridge said. “It’s been a great experience.”

“Our biggest thing is awareness and showing that college students really care about issues going on in the world,” Lowder said. “The media usually displays us in a bad way with club hopping and drinking so we just wanted to send a positive message that we really care about the kids [in Uganda].”