Screening of Documentary, Orphans of the Nile

The screening of the documentary, Orphans of the Nile, will be followed by a keynote presentation by Debra Dawson, president of African Soul American Heart (ASAH), at 12:30 p.m.

ASAH protects orphaned girls from forced marriage at puberty, educates them, and empowers them to become leaders. The organization's goal is to educate 50 girls in school subjects and practical life skills so they will have the knowledge and skills to help their country develoop. ASAH girls will change the world they live in.

Deb Dawson is a writer, photographer, filmmaker, businesswoman, teacher, humanitarian, and philanthropist. She holds a B.S.Ed. in Education and English and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Her role as mother to bio, step, and internationally adopted children led her to write "When Love Is Not Enough," a memoir about the way mothers and daughters forge relationships in the face of tremendous obstacles.

In 2007, Deb traveled to Africa with a Lost Boy of Sudan and made a documentary about his desire to help orphans in the village he escaped 20 years earlier. Now, as president of the nonprofit she founded, she spends nearly three months a year working with the staff and sutdents at the ASAH School for Orphaned girls in Duk Payuel Jonglei State, Republic of South Sudan.