B U B A A R E

THE STORY

The graduates are now university lecturers, teachers, midwives, entrepreneurs, nurses, journalists, refugee resettlement officers, bankers, accountants, lawyers and salespeople. In contrast, their peers from the village continue to barely survive through subsistence farming. The church is justifiably proud of the collateral benefits of these scholarships: The boys of the school are damned if they are going to let girls striving for the scholarship do better than them, so educational achievement at the school overall has increased dramatically for both sexes. The graduates have smaller families and educate their children, thus helping reduce the environmental pressures of overpopulation- which is the sixth most effective means of reducing atmospheric carbon ("Drawdown" by Paul Hawken). The graduates remain closer to home and so continue to invigorate their community. Over the long term women like these will help to rebuild their country, creating a stable, viable modern democracy with a thriving economy. At that point one will have to ask: Was the action of Grace Episcopal Church really Christian altruism, or by helping “the least of these” were they actually helping America? This film examines the impact of these scholarships on an African country ravaged by poverty, famine and disease- and the impact on the donors as well.

THE FILM

Stylistic influences include “The Big Short”, “Searching for Sugarman”, “Tree of Life” and “Wings of Desire”. We aim to produce a fast paced, insightful movie that is inspiringly beautiful while never glossing over the brutal injustices of extreme poverty. The participants include the Scholars and sponsored students themselves, their friends who did not make it to college, teachers, parents and the people of Grace Church who made it all possible.
Making this film during the COVID-19 lockdown should be impossible… except that one of the graduates of the scheme now runs the Mass Communication Department of the local University in Uganda, so this California-based production has access to camera and sound gear as well as local journalists and film makers on the ground in Africa. This means that we can go ahead as a socially distanced production, whilst simultaneously minimizing our carbon footprint! As well as just telling the story we hope to inspire the viewer to action: Grace Church chose girls' education but what they achieved with meagre resources of time and money- not to mention zero experience or expertise in the field- is extraordinary, and we hope that our audience will be inspired to do likewise in any area that they feel passionate about- let's face it the World needs a lot of help!

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We are stepping out in faith to make this important film, so any assistance you may be able to offer will be gratefully received.
“You know you’re in new territory when your dress costs more than your film!” Jessica Chu’s 1997 Oscar acceptance speech highlights that documentary budgets never stray into the eye-watering realm of dramatic features, nevertheless we do face considerable expenses to bring this important and inspirational story out. 2012’s Oscar winning “Searching for Sugarman” cost less than $1M to produce & market and grossed almost $10M worldwide, so financial returns are not an impossible dream. “BUBAARE: Daughters of Grace” is looking for funding from investors or as charitable donations.