The Power Of The Human Spirit—

Congo Documentary Screening To Include Interaction With Creators

SOUTHBURY — HEART, The Congo Chronicles, a new documentary from producer-screenwriter Jeffrey Luken Hartlage and director-composer Kenneth Lundquist, Jr., will be shown at The Watermark at East Hill on Sunday, January 31, at 2 pm.

Admission is an open suggested donation to benefit One Small Step a 501(c)(3) foundation committed to the support of a Congolese orphanage as well as assisting in the adoption of children from the Democratic Republic of Congo to American families. Copies of the film and soundtrack will also be available for purchase.

Prior to the screening, Mr Lundquist will perform music from the film. Mr Lundquist and Mr Hartlage will both be available for a talk-back session after the film.

HEART, The Congo Chronicles is the story of Jeffrey Luken Hartlage’s friendship with Madame TeeTee, a Congolese woman who holds life to a higher standard than most people in the corrupt, impoverished, war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). Mr Hartlage, a professional pilot, lived in DR Congo for a year, flying humanitarian supply missions in Africa.

The film details Mr Hartlage’s efforts to find a loving adoptive home in the US for Madame TeeTee’s teenage daughter Olga. Bureaucracy and corruption are no match for one mother’s determination to save her daughter from the bleak cycle of poverty and despair that so many people face in DR Congo.

The film shows Olga in both her homes: the tenement she shared with her mother and several other families in DR Congo, and the beautifully appointed house in Atlanta, Ga., that she now shares with her adoptive fathers. Olga’s adoption has paved the way for the adoption of other Congolese children.

For more information about HEART, The Congo Chronicles, visit StartAtTheHeart.org.

The Watermark at East Hill is at 611 East Hill Road in Southbury. Call 888-570-6659 for directions and additional information.