Schedule A Meeting
Meeting with the local office of your representative might sound a little intimidating, but it’s actually easy to do and one of the very best things you can do to put pressure on your member of Congress to take action for peace.
What You Need to Know:
How do I set up a meeting? Use this site to find the contact information for your member of Congress and find their local office that is nearest to where you live. When you call, ask to speak to the person in charge of foreign policy and then just find a time that works for both of you to sit down with either them or their boss to talk about northern Uganda.
What should I do to prepare? The only thing you need to do to prepare for the meeting is read through some of the information on our site and familiarize yourself with the issue. Specifically, just try to remember the few key messages that you want to share, and print out the documents on this site to bring with you. If you want, you can also bring a copy of Invisible Children or anything else you think that you could leave with the person. Remember, you’re doing something great that will help advance the cause of peace for the people of northern Uganda.
Should I bring people with me? If you can get a group of people to go with you, that’s great; if not, then going by yourself is fine!
How will the meeting go? Each meeting will be different, so it’s impossible to say exactly. But generally, the more organized you can be going into the meeting, the more smoothly it will run. The person you’re meeting with will expect you to take the lead, so here’s a suggestion of how you can schedule your time:
What should I do to follow up afterwards? Following up is one of the most important parts of these meetings, as it sends the message that you’re still watching to see if they’re doing what you requested. Basically, all you need to do is make one more phone call to the office you met with, and ask whether or not they have done what you asked. Remember – YOU are their boss. They rely on the vote of you or your family and friends to stay in office! It would also be great if you wanted to write up a quick report on how the meeting went and email it our office so we can post it on our site! Email any reflections/photos to alison@resolveuganda.org.
And if you have any questions along the way, feel free to contact us so we can help!
What You Need to Know:
How do I set up a meeting? Use this site to find the contact information for your member of Congress and find their local office that is nearest to where you live. When you call, ask to speak to the person in charge of foreign policy and then just find a time that works for both of you to sit down with either them or their boss to talk about northern Uganda.
What should I do to prepare? The only thing you need to do to prepare for the meeting is read through some of the information on our site and familiarize yourself with the issue. Specifically, just try to remember the few key messages that you want to share, and print out the documents on this site to bring with you. If you want, you can also bring a copy of Invisible Children or anything else you think that you could leave with the person. Remember, you’re doing something great that will help advance the cause of peace for the people of northern Uganda.
Should I bring people with me? If you can get a group of people to go with you, that’s great; if not, then going by yourself is fine!
How will the meeting go? Each meeting will be different, so it’s impossible to say exactly. But generally, the more organized you can be going into the meeting, the more smoothly it will run. The person you’re meeting with will expect you to take the lead, so here’s a suggestion of how you can schedule your time:
- Group Introduction: If you go with other people, take a second to introduce the group and explain the purpose of your visit
- Individual Introduction: Each participant should introduce themselves, where they are from, and why they are interested in the crisis in northern Uganda.
- Deliver the Message: Someone in your group should deliver the key messages about what exactly you want their office to do to support peace in Uganda (support the peace talks and finance reconstruction in the north).
- Let Them Talk: The person you meet with may want to tell you what they know about the issue and what their office is already doing about it.
- Thank them and hand off materials: At the end of the meeting, be sure to thank the person you meet with, and if you haven’t already, hand off the leave-behind materials. Then inform them that you will be in touch with their office to follow up.
What should I do to follow up afterwards? Following up is one of the most important parts of these meetings, as it sends the message that you’re still watching to see if they’re doing what you requested. Basically, all you need to do is make one more phone call to the office you met with, and ask whether or not they have done what you asked. Remember – YOU are their boss. They rely on the vote of you or your family and friends to stay in office! It would also be great if you wanted to write up a quick report on how the meeting went and email it our office so we can post it on our site! Email any reflections/photos to alison@resolveuganda.org.
And if you have any questions along the way, feel free to contact us so we can help!