On Thursday, the on-campus American Enterprise Institute council hosted a screening and discussion on a new documentary, “Mama Rwanda.”

AEI, a think-tank located in Washington, D. C. which specializes in public policy research and conservative ideals,  puts councils of 5-6 students on college campuses to distribute their research & pay for events promoting discussion and awareness.

The documentary,”Mama Rwanda,” tells the story of “a new generation of women helping to turn post-genocide Rwanda into one of the top ten fastest growing economies in the world,” said the film website http://www.mamarwanda.com/about/.

“I saw it at an AEI conference in DC, and got to hear from the filmmakers who had gone to Rwanda to film,” said Madeline Dayton, sophomore global studies major from Katy, Texas and a member of AEI. “This film was chosen to create awareness about female entrepreneurship in Rwanda, and show the great humanitarian strides this country has made in the last few decades.”

The ACU AEI Council has been active on campus for about a year. Last semester, the Council brought Henry Olson, an elections analyst, to talk with the Students’ Association and classes about the election cycle. Next semester, the Council hopes to bring another guest to campus to host campus-wide discussions and dinner.

“I definitely think this film had a huge impact on those watching,” said Dayton. “All who came seemed very engrossed in the documentary. We held a discussion afterwards with Dr. Monty Lynn and two Rwandan students. I planned for about a 20 minute discussion, but we ended up talking for around 45 minutes because people were so interested.” 

The documentary was released in selected theaters in fall 2016. For information, Dr. Ron Morgan at rxm03c@acu.edu.