New CoFiA video to be screened

On Friday, February 24, 2012, at 7:30 p.m., a video-in-the-making entitled “Why I Am Here,” will be presented at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, 113 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.   The video is supported, in part, with a  grant from the Puffin Foundation, Limited, and with a donation from the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood.

 The presentation of the video is part of an evening program entitled “Unintended Consequences: How U.S. Laws Encourage Migration.”  As an introduction, graduate student Nadir Romo, a son of Mexican immigrants, will provide a PowerPoint and lecture on the impact of Free Trade Treaties such as NAFTA and CAFTA, on the economies of  South and Central American countries.

 The video documents the story of one Guatemalan immigrant, Elìas Garcìa, who tells how trade treaties and the brutal civil war in his country forced him to leave his beloved homeland to find refuge and a source of income in the U.S.  The videographer, Juan Pablo Morales Estrada, provides footage of  Mr. Garcìa’s  family and home in Guatemala, as well as visual documentation of the realities of the civil war.

 The evening will close with a presentation of a dance performance by Grupo Folklórico Tikál, a Guatemalan group that presents historical and cultural information through dance and poetry.

 The evening is free and open to the public, but donations for the dancers and the development of the video are requested.  Checks may be made payable to: CoFiA, P.O. Box 448, 181 Fort Lee Road, Leonia, NJ 07605.