ALA honors WAR DANCE!

“War Dance” has been selected as one of the ALA (American Library Association) Video Round Table’s Notable Videos for Adults this year! The ALA has honored fifteen outstanding programs released on video within the past two years that are suitable for all libraries serving adults.  Its purpose is to call attention to recent video releases that make a significant contribution to the world of video recordings.
The selections were made during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Colorado. Other videos include, “No End in Sight,” “Deep Water,” and “Sharkwater.”

We are very proud to be singled out by the ALA for “War Dance,” and we thank them for including us. Please visit ALA’s website to read the press release.

Jenny & Richard Bowen, Half the Sky Foundation

In 1997, Jenny and Richard Bowen adopted their daughter, Maya, a toddler from a welfare institution in southern China. They received a first-hand education in early childhood development and the trauma of institutionalization: she suffered from both physical and cognitive developmental delays. But after just one year of individual attention, love and nurture, Maya was transformed.

How easy it was to make a tremendous difference in the life of one young child! What if you could do the same for the many children in China who languish waiting for families — or those who will never be adopted? That’s how Half the Sky Foundation — named for the Chinese adage, “Women hold up half the sky” — was born in 1998.

Half the Sky’s mission — to provide family-like nurturing care in the lives of orphaned children — was clear, but the effectiveness of its first pilot programs, launched in the summer of 2000, was an open question.

Thousands of children are now enrolled in Half the Sky programs to provide love and hope for orphaned children. Since Half the Sky began its work in China in 2000, more than ten thousand children have benefited from one or more of these four innovative programs:

The Baby Sisters Infant Nurture Program — Half the Sky employs, trains and supervises local women to work as full-time nannies, providing orphaned babies the stimulation, bonding and affection that are essential to a healthy start.

The Little Sisters Preschool Program — Teachers from the local community are trained in Half the Sky’s innovative curriculum, designed to give young children the self-confidence, basic skills and love of learning that will help them to succeed when they move on to primary school.

The Big Sisters Program — Older children, especially those who’ve not had the benefit of early education, often give up on themselves. Half the Sky provides these children individualized learning opportunities, according to their own interests, talents and aspirations.

The Family Village Program — Children, whose medical and developmental challenges preclude them from http://aic.org.uk/cialis-generic/ government adoption programs, grow up in permanent loving families, living in Half the Sky-provided homes nearby the institution where they can receive the support services they need.

Please visit their site halfthesky.org

Information gathered from halfthesky.org

New Shine intern for spring 2009

We would like to welcome our new intern, J. Michael Polisano, a Rutgers senior from New Jersey. He will be working with Shine this spring and is very enthusiastic about film production and development. He is a double major in theater and communications and will be graduating in May. Welcome to Shine, Mike!

Trafficked Bihar children, India

The rescue of 15 children being trafficked to Delhi from villages in Purnia and Araria districts, which bore the brunt of the deluge when the Kosi changed course, has brought to light tales of childhood condemned to an uncertain future.

Though police claim their intervention saved the children from being forced into child labour in the megapolis by traffickers, the accounts of the children are quite to the contrary.

Seven-year-old Mashrul is wise beyond his years and said he wanted to work in Delhi to pay back the debt his father had incurred for the wedding of his sister.

“Our farm is covered by a sheet of water. I have three sisters and our father had taken a loan for the wedding of one of them which has to be repaid,” says the boy, unconcerned by the presence of the police.

Like him, 11-year-old Tassavur says, “I have two sisters, who need to be married off. When one of my acquaintances asked me whether I was prepared to go and work in Delhi, I agreed,” says Tassavur.

He had headed for the alleged traffickers from the field where he was grazing cattle without even informing his family.

Officer-in-Charge of Government Railway police station, Katihar, Suresh Prasad, whose team rescued the children with the help of volunteers

of ngo ‘Bal Kalyan Samiti’ last Saturday, said 15 children from villages under Jalalgarh police station in Purnia and Araria police station in Araria districts were rescued and five traffickers arrested.

The traffickers were charged under Section 14 of the Child Labour Act and Section 34 of IPC (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and sent to jail, while the children were being sent to their families.

“Ostensibly, these children between seven and 14 were being taken to be forced into child labour in factories,” teh police officer said.

Mohd Mussawar, one of the those arrested denied he was a trafficker claiming “I was going to Delhi in search of work and the children’s families volunteered to send them along due to the hardship being faced by them…

Continue reading…

Information gathered from zeenews.com

WAR DANCE on Sundance Channel 1/18 at 10pm

We are so thrilled to announce that WAR DANCE will be making its U.S. television premiere on The Sundance Channel this Sunday, January 18, at 10pm! WAR DANCE is airing as part of Sundance’s month-long Sundance Film Festival Showcase. WAR DANCE was honored with a Best Director award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007. Please spread the word to all of your friends and family. We can’t wait to see WAR DANCE on the small screen for the first time in the U.S! Please click here read more.