International Awareness and InvolvementFree Film ScreeningNarrated by Morgan Freeman, Where the Water Meets the Sky is the story of a remarkable group of women in a remote region of northern Zambia, who make a film as a way to speak out about their lives and to challenge the local traditions which have, until now, kept them silent. The women shoot a film that portrays a subject of their own choosing: the plight of young women orphaned by AIDS. Their film recounts the real-life experiences of Penelop, an 18-year-old orphan, and her struggle to provide for herself and her siblings in the wake of her parents’ deaths. What begins as a workshop about filmmaking, and a quest to tell Penelop’s story, becomes a journey in empowerment as the women rise to the challenge of pressing their community to change. Uplifting and poignant, Where the Water Meets the Sky is the story of an unforgettable group of women who defy long traditions of silence and who demonstrate with courage, humor and resilience that their futures are once again something of promise.
Hosted by: the Washington DC Alumnae, the Northern Virginia Alumnae, and the Nu Alpha Chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Part of the Busboys and Poets Focus-In Cinema for a Conscious Community
Mary Help of the Sick Mission Hospital (formerly Thika Memorial Hospital)Concerns of adequate prenatal and maternity care for women in Africa helped Delta Sigma Theta to build the Mary Help of the Sick Mission Hospital. In 1955, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority established a maternity wing and health services in Thika Town, Kenya. Plans for a facility was formed in the early 1960s when the sorority financed the Thika Maternity Hospital’s construction, which is now Mary Help of the Sick Mission Hospital. The first hospital opened after Kenya gained independence in 1963. Missionary sisters of the Holy Rosary operate the hospital. In 1985, Delta Sigma Theta members visited the hospital and witnessed an increased population and an increased infant mortality rate in and around Thika. In response, the sorority donated over $20,000, which was led to the establishment of two additional maternity wards and an administrative office. Mary Help of the Sick Mission Hospital now has 120 beds, providing affordable prenatal and postnatal care, nutritional education, child immunization, and family planning. The hospital gives prenatal care, including lab work, blood tests, and examinations daily for more than two hundred women. The facility also has a special care nursery for newborn babies. The hospital also serves as a nurse and midwife educational institutions. Over 66 students are trained each year. Copyright © 2008-2010 Washington DC Alumnae Chapter |