Are international aid programs in Africa undermining the very communities they aim to help? Good Fortune provides a rare and intimate portrait of two vibrant Kenyan communities—one rural, one urban—battling to save their homes and businesses from large-scale development organizations. Both communities believe the aid projects will devastate their lives and are organizing to fight back.

Part 1: Jackson and Dominion Farms

In part one of the two-part series, an American company threatens to flood the Jackson's family farm. The company has invested more than twenty-one million dollars in a commercial rice farm in an effort to stimulate the economy, create employment, and provide infrastructure. But to irrigate its farm, the company plans to flood more than eleven hundred acres of local farmland, including the homes of five hundred families. As water reaches his doorstep, Jackson begins rallying the community for a fight to protect their land.

Part 2: Silva and the Slum Upgrading Project

Part two features successful midwife Silva Adhiambo who lives in Kibera, Africa's largest squatter community. Her home and business are being demolished as part of a United Nations slum-upgrading project. Although the government and United Nations insist the evictions will be temporary, the residents do not believe them, prompting Silva, her husband, and her neighbors to begin efforts to stop the project and halt their forthcoming displacement.

Part 1: 35 min. Part 2: 39 min.

"Reveals the underside of foreign aid...underscores the need for community involvement, control, and grassroots leadership in development projects. . . Could spark lively discussions if used in courses covering the areas of African studies, agriculture, economics, environmental studies, post colonialism, and urban studies."

‒Wendy Highby, University of North Carolina, Educational Media Reviews Online

Overseas Press Club Award, 2011
Emmy winner, News and Documentary, 2011
Official Selection, International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2009
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, New York., 2009
Witness Award, SILVERDOCS Documentary Film Festival, Maryland, 2009