The Footprints Foundation and Florida International University will present Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama Ruined to the South Florida community on Friday, September 7, 2012, at 7pm at the Coral Gables Stage at the Biltmore. Tickets are $65.00. This fundraiser event will raise awareness and much needed funds for the First Midwives training program sponsored by the Footprints Foundation that will take place in the Congo, October 1-12. The curriculum has been developed by Dr. Mary Jo O’Sullivan, Dr. Nahida Chakhtoura, and Jamile Munajj-Brown, a local midwife. The Footprint Foundation’s mission is to improve mortality rates of mothers and infants by training skilled midwives and traditional birth attendants in the essentials of maternal and newborn care.
Ruined won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards. The play involves the plight of women in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. This probing work is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit during times of war.
Sit with Executive Director, Lorna Owens, the guiding force of the Footprints Foundation and you will hear the deeply rooted passion and commitment that she has dedicated to uplifting the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo. http://ka.uvuvideo.org/_Lorna-Owens-Interview/video/1707227/86294.html
“Work in the Congo is truly life saving. Health facilities in the DR Congo often lack proper equipment such as a simple delivery kit for childbirth. As a result, many women die becoming a mother. This event will help raised need funds to address the significant issues with childbirth that these women are faced with”, states Lorna Owens, Executive Director.
A 20-minute talk-back presentation will take place after the play featuring: Professor John Clark, Florida International University Professor Carol Boyce Davies, Cornell University Barbara Martinez, Esq., U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Southern District of Florida.
Moderated by: Lorna Owens, Founder, Footprints Foundation Dr. Yesim Darici, Director, FIU Women’s Studies Center
For event information and donations, please contact: Lorna Owens at 305.573.8423. Visit www.footprints-foundation.org and follow on Twitter @FootprintsCongo.
