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Olivia Fournier, 17, of Reston, and Josh Leong, 18, of McLean, hold the photo diary they created, "Kings x Queens," illustrating the moving story of the abandoned children crisis. in Ethiopia. "Kings x Queens (is) one of the only active awareness campaigns in America," said Leong.
Photo of Mercia Hobson.
"The children who were still living on the streets and the orphans were difficult to manage, leaving was even more difficult and making this project even more important." -Olivia Fournier, 17 years old of Reston
Olivia Fournier, 17, of Reston, and Josh Leong, 18, of McLean, intervened after their trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with members of the McLean Bible Church in the summer of 2018 to help to take care of vulnerable children and orphans in the locality. communities and centers and carry out the ministry of evangelization. Realizing that they would be able to raise awareness and make donations to Orphan Care Ethiopia on their return, Fournier and Leong created a four-part documentary film titled "Kings x Queens" and a Fundraising photo log bearing the same name and illustrating the moving story of the film. crisis of abandoned children while celebrating cultural differences.
LEONG AND FOURNIER shared their goals, what they learned during their trip to Ethiopia and their plans for the future. "Our goal for the video is to advocate for hope for the fatherless, whose main problem is that of abandoned children. … We wanted to be able to tell the story, educate others and raise money. … Ethiopia has limited humanitarian aid from organizations such as UNICEF, making Kings x Queens one of the only active awareness campaigns in America, "said Leong.
Describing the crisis and the need for funding, Mr. Leong said that in January 2018, the Ethiopian government had banned foreign children from adopting children "because of the scandal over human rights outside the country, "referring to child trafficking and the theft of babies. "There is a rabbit burrow," Leong said of the additional twists related to the crisis. "There is an anti-foreign concern as the Ethiopian government wants their children to stay at their borders and their culture," said Leong.
Fournier added that 5% of the current 90 million people in Ethiopia are orphans. "That's 4.5 million kids, it's a very big number," she said. Fournier described a picture she took. "There is one, a group of girls, five of whom laugh, it was a sweet moment." Leong described how he saw first-hand the impact of the contributions made while he was in a children's lounge provided by the funds. "Everything was cordoned off."
"The children who were still living on the streets and the orphans were difficult to manage," said Fournier. "Leaving was even more difficult and made this project even more important."
SCRAWL BOOKS, Reston Town Center, 11911 Freedom Dr., Reston hosts a world premiere of the Kings x Queens documentary series, as well as the signing / sale of books at 4 pm on Sunday, January 13, 2019. Free and open at Fournier and Leong will be on hand to meet people, introduce themselves, talk about their experiences and sign books to raise awareness of the orphan crisis and support their efforts.
"Scrawl is always pleased to support community initiatives and allow artists and writers to use our store to share their insights and work," said Rachel Wood, founder and owner of Scrawl Books.
Individuals can donate to their partner organizations, Hope for the Fathereless and Selamta Family Project, to two 501c3 organizations based in Ethiopia or visit kingsxqueens.weebly.com. All funds are tax deductible and will be used to organize training, organize community events and sponsor orphan homes in local neighborhoods.
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