Rainbow Town | A Documentary about a Liberian Orphanage

30 Days.
30 Paintings.
30 Chances to Impact a Life.

It’s simple.

For the month of September, each day you’ll have a chance to impact the lives of the Rainbow Town children by purchasing, promoting and sharing their artwork. 100% of all proceeds will go to their educational needs. It’s ART 4 SCHOOL.

First, we’ll feature a painting and the Rainbow Town child who created it.

Then, it’s your chance to impact a life!  Fun ways to make a difference:

• Purchase a painting for your home, classroom, church, or business!
• Have a birthday in September? Challenge people to purchase your birthday’s painting.
• Challenge your sorority, youth group, class, team, or any other group to fundraise and purchase a painting.
• Choose a painting and promote to all your Facebook friends, Twitter followers to encourage people to join the ART 4 SCHOOL campaign and purchase.

Our goal is to sell all 30 paintings by September 30^th, which will keep teachers in Rainbow Town’s primary school as well as pay for high school and college tuition.

Every dollar counts. Continued, quality education will enable the Rainbow Town children to emerge out of poverty, achieve their educational dreams, and reach for their fullest potential.

That’s 30 days, featuring 30 paintings giving you 30 chances to impact a life!

Join the ART4SCHOOL Campaign on Facebook! “Like” the Rainbow Town Facebook page and follow each day, each painting and each opportunity to impact a life this September!

The Rainbow Town documentary recently won the Feature Film/Documentary category of the esteemed Wilbur Awards, which were held at Heifer International in Little Rock, Arkansas. Two of the Rainbow Town children who have been adopted to the United States – Adam & Christiana – attended the ceremony along with the documentary’s director Lauren Selmon Roberts and the documentary’s still photographer Amy Elrod. During the acceptance speech, Lauren & Amy introduced Adam & Christiana to the audience, inviting them to come forward. As they walked to the podium, Adam & Christiana received a standing ovation for their story of survival. Adam shared a quick word of thanks on behalf of his Rainbow Town family.  Click here for a full list of Wilbur Award winners and enjoy photos from the evening below. Photos courtesy of Gabrielle.

The award-winning Rainbow Town documentary is now available on DVD!

If you would like to purchase a copy, visit the Rainbow Town store here. The DVD features the 76-minute movie, as well as, a variety of special features, including an update on the Rainbow Town children, a slide show of Rainbow Town images, and a full interview with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

The movie synopsis follows: With war raging around her, she had to make a choice: to protect the orphaned children forced into her life or abandon them and go in search of her own family. With no money and no food, both choices seemed impossible. Rainbow Town is the staggering true story of Feeta Naimen and the children who call her mother.

See this film and be forever changed.

On January 20, 2011, we launched a video about Lauren’s 28th birthday wish. She wanted to use her birthday for something bigger than herself by raising money for war orphans in Liberia to go to school. Her goal was to sell 28 Rainbow Town paintings by the end of January.

We had no idea what the outcome would be, but we were thrilled to announce that by January 26, the actual day of Lauren’s birthday, we had surpassed our goal by selling 30 paintings. Time and again, throughout the journey, we were moved by the results.

The very first painting was purchased from Chile. There were also purchases from Afghanistan, Liberia, the UK and Canada.

An Oklahoma family bought 6 paintings. Four people said they really did not have the money to buy a painting, but that they were going to because they wanted to support the effort.

The 28th person simply walked in and handed us a $100 dollar bill. She said her life had been touched by someone and now she wanted to pay it forward.

With every single painting sold, we were moved. We were moved that a group of people from around the globe collectively raised their hands and said, “Yes, I’ll buy art so that a war orphan in Liberia can go to school.”

Thanks to everyone who played a role in the process, especially to those who helped us spread the word and to those who bought art. Here is a video from Lauren personally thanking everyone who helped make her birthday wish come true.

Below are 28 of the 30 paintings that were sold, or in other words, the art that has been turned into education.

And, finally, please remember that more beautiful paintings are always available at our store. Also, if you are interested in committing your birthday for the Rainbow Town effort, please contact us at info@rainbowtown.org.

For her 28th birthday, Rainbow Town: The Documentary Director Lauren Selmon Roberts made the wish to sell 28 Rainbow Town Paintings. She did so because with each art piece sold, a war-affected child gets the gift of education. In other words, her real wish is to help 28 war-affected children get a step closer to reaching their educational goals. The art is bright, bold, and completely original. In the video below, Lauren talks about the art and her birthday wish. If you want to help make the wish come true, buy art at the Rainbow Town store.

As we jump in to a new year, Rainbow Town takes a moment to reflect on the highlights of 2010! Join us as the fun continues in 2011. Click here to find out how!

Rainbow Town Art is featured in this month’s edition of Silk – a magazine for women. The article tells the journey of Oklahoman Kathryn Selmon, who adopted two children originally from Rainbow Town and who voluntarily commits long, hard hours to the Rainbow Town effort. Click here to see the full magazine.

Children have dreams. They want to find their place in the world and change it. No matter where they live, what their life circumstance is, or how difficult their future may be, they want to achieve their dreams.

Fifteen-year-old Taylor has a dream – to one day become a civil engineer so he can build up the infrastructure of his country, Liberia. He wants to improve the war-torn roads leading into Rainbow Town, the small, rural orphanage he calls home. In the video clip below, listen as Taylor shares his aspirations for the future.

On the other side of the world, 70 middle school and high school students from Missouri’s Odessa First Baptist Church have a dream – to become world-changers.

Rainbow Town:  The Documentary was screened at Odessa Baptist Church’s youth retreat. The youth sat and listened to the stories of Taylor, Alice, and Faith – all children their own age – as they shared the horrors of the Liberian civil war they survived, as well as, their hopes and dreams for the future.

After the film, the middle school and high school students actually became world-changers by donating $500 to the education of war-affected Liberian children like Taylor. The money they raised will provide two full semesters of college education for one Liberian child.

This is the power of children helping children.

Why do we care about others? Why is important to help our brothers and sisters from other cities, communities, states, countries, and cultures? Because we’re more alike than different …we all have dreams.

Learn more about Rainbow Town’s effort to send war-affected Liberian children to school and the many ways you can join the effort!

Tonight in New York City, Rainbow Town Director Lauren Selmon Roberts won the Eastern Region of the Best African American Student Filmmaker Award from the Director’s Guild of America. Lee Daniels, the Director of Oscar-Winning Precious, presented her with the award. Read a full article in The Southern Illinoisan about the event here! Read the official release from the Director’s Guild about the award here!