Aida, our little pink pig film
festival mascot and Aida's Big Phat Florida Film Festival are named after
and in honor of Aida Molina. This is her story.



Years ago, Aida Molina, now 63 and living in Orlando, began
sponsoring disadvantaged children around the world. She would pay an
organization called World Vision about
$18 per month per child that she sponsored. She sponsored six children. In
addition to the money she would pay, she would send them bicycles, clothes
and other gifts.



One year, Aida, well into her 50s, decided that she wanted to meet
her "adopted" children. She had grown to care about them. Just a picture
no longer sufficed so she decided to at least visit one of her sponsored
children that year. She chose to visit one of her adopted boys from
Ecuador, the country where she herself was born. She flew down to Ecuador,
where she met the representative from World Vision. From
the World Vision office, they drove in his shiny silver
Mercedes as far as they could, then Aida was left alone with the natives
to hike through the jungle for three days. The representative did not join
them.



After three days in the jungle, they finally
reached the town where her adopted boy lived. They enjoyed each other's
time together and took lots of pictures. When it was time to leave, Aida
promised to visit again next year. She hiked back the three day trek
through the jungle and was picked up by the same World Vision
representative in the same shiny silver Mercedes.




This preoccupied Aida so much over the next year that she decided
to visit him again, but this time she did it on her own. Because of her
suspicions, she chose not to contact World Vision
and when she arrived, the World Vision office was
no longer there. So she hiked without their help, this time breaking her
foot. She continued anyway.

Once there, she searched for her
boy, noticing how emaciated the people in the village were. She was guided
to the place where he had really lived before he was forced to move away.
It consisted of a few pieces of wood that were leaned up against a mound
of dirt, not at all what was represented to her the year before.




When she finally found him, she learned that he had never received
any of the money, nor did he receive the bicycle or any of the clothes
that she sent. This infuriated Aida so she demanded her money back from
World Vision. They refused.



Defeated, Aida decided that
the children were more important than that, so she continued, on her own,
to deliver food, clothes, money and desperately needed medicine. But time
had taken its toll on Aida's vision. She had developed a degenerative eye
disease and was going blind. Aida continued as long as she could, but as a
result was forced to stop. Yet AIDA'S VISION is clear to her and it's
clear to us too.



Aida's Big Phat Florida Film Festival will be accepting donations of
money, canned foods and clothing at the festival, which will be donated to
children's charities in Florida and abroad. Please help us to help her
continue her vision of honest support to children in need.