Arkansas PBS > Engage > Pressroom > Community Cinema offers free screening of Solar Mamas in Fayetteville Oct. 28
Posted 13 Nov 2012
CONWAY, Ark. (AETN) The Arkansas PBS (AETN), Fayetteville Public Library and KUAF 91.3FM invite the public to a free screening of Solar Mamas as part of Community Cinema Sunday, Oct. 28, at 2 p.m. in the library, 401 West Mountain Street.
Solar Mamas follows the story of rural Bedouin woman Rafea, who hails from a small Jordanian village close to the desert. Rafea is a 30-year-old mother with four children and a husband who is eager to take a third wife. With encouragement from the countrys Ministry of Environment, she leaves her village for the first time to go to the Barefoot College in India and train to become a solar-energy engineer. As the first Jordanian woman ever to attend such a program, Rafea dreams of returning to bring much-needed income and talents to support her family and village but encounters trouble just two months into the program: her husband insists that she return home, or he will divorce her and take the children.
The Barefoot College in India was founded by Bunker Roy to provide knowledge and training to the rural poor to empower them to make their communities self-reliant and sustainable. The solar course at Barefoot College offers training to women from many countries, including Kenya, Burkina Faso, Columbia and Guatemala.
Solar Mamas will air on AETN Monday, Nov. 5, at 9 p.m.
The screening will be held in the auditorium of the Fayetteville Public Library, 401 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville. A community discussion will follow the screening. Additional information is available by calling AETN at 800-662-2386 or visiting aetn.org/communitycinema.
Community Cinema, a free monthly screening series engaging communities through films produced by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), features monthly screenings followed by panel discussions with leading organizations, local communities and special guest speakers. The program is designed to help people learn about and get involved in the social issues raised in the documentaries.
The Fayetteville Public Librarys mission is to strengthen the community, empower citizens with free and public access to knowledge, inspire imagination, foster learning, be powerfully relevant and be completely accessible. Additional information is available at faylib.org.