We were in the mood for a movie last night, and I was really feeling like a documentary. So I searched the top documentaries in the last year and came across this amazing story.
A Small Act, released in 2010 by HBO Documentary Films , is such a moving and awesome story. Here is the blurb taken from Roger Ebert's review. I can't wait to watch it!
"This heartwarming documentary centers on the life story of Chris Mburu, who as a small boy living in a mud house in a Kenyan village had his primary and secondary education paid for by a Swedish woman. This cost her $15 a month. They had never met. He went on to the University of Nairobi, graduated from Harvard Law School, and is today a United Nations Human Rights Commissioner.
The film shows Mburu seeking the Swedish woman "who made my life possible." She is Hilde Back. She is now 85 years old, a German Jew who was sent to Sweden as a child. Her family died in the Holocaust. She never married, was a school teacher, has lived in the same apartment for 35 years, is a tiny woman, but robust and filled with energy.
She is flown to Kenya, serenaded by the choir from Mburu's village, feasted, thanked, gowned in traditional robes. In the village the students study by the light of a single oil flame. The schools are not physically impressive; crowded classrooms with simple board benches and desks. A gym? Don't make me laugh. Hilda Back is asked if, since she never had children, she thought of Chris as a son. We see in the film that they stay in close touch. "But I have had children," she replied. "I was a teacher. I had many, many children." And one lived in a mud house in Kenya."
You have to watch the trailer!
So touching that such a small act could really change the life of a person, and therefore thousands of people. You can read more on the review here: A Small Act.
Have a great weekend, and remember, start now, nobody need wait!
A Small Act, released in 2010 by HBO Documentary Films , is such a moving and awesome story. Here is the blurb taken from Roger Ebert's review. I can't wait to watch it!
"This heartwarming documentary centers on the life story of Chris Mburu, who as a small boy living in a mud house in a Kenyan village had his primary and secondary education paid for by a Swedish woman. This cost her $15 a month. They had never met. He went on to the University of Nairobi, graduated from Harvard Law School, and is today a United Nations Human Rights Commissioner.
The film shows Mburu seeking the Swedish woman "who made my life possible." She is Hilde Back. She is now 85 years old, a German Jew who was sent to Sweden as a child. Her family died in the Holocaust. She never married, was a school teacher, has lived in the same apartment for 35 years, is a tiny woman, but robust and filled with energy.
She is flown to Kenya, serenaded by the choir from Mburu's village, feasted, thanked, gowned in traditional robes. In the village the students study by the light of a single oil flame. The schools are not physically impressive; crowded classrooms with simple board benches and desks. A gym? Don't make me laugh. Hilda Back is asked if, since she never had children, she thought of Chris as a son. We see in the film that they stay in close touch. "But I have had children," she replied. "I was a teacher. I had many, many children." And one lived in a mud house in Kenya."
You have to watch the trailer!
So touching that such a small act could really change the life of a person, and therefore thousands of people. You can read more on the review here: A Small Act.
Have a great weekend, and remember, start now, nobody need wait!
This is beautiful, thanks for sharing. ~Wendy N
ReplyDeleteWow. I mean, that's the only thing you can really say to this, just wow.
ReplyDeleteI'm speechless.
that is really awesome
ReplyDelete