On November 25, 2016 the film Lion was released in the U.S. This film directed by Garth Davis tells the real story of Saroo Brierley who at five years old got lost in India. Fortunately, Saroo was adopted by an Australian couple and was able to reunite with his birth mother 25 years later, but, that is not the fate of many of the children who get lost in India and find themselves living on the streets. With over 11 million children living on the streets and over 80,000 going missing each year, India needs help.
Iain Canning, the Joint Managing Director of See Saw Films met with the L.A journalist Simon Thompson and expressed to him that even though telling the story was the priority, they knew that their audience would be moved and want to take action and that was something they weren’t going to ignore since it could help so many kids who are lost in India.
Out of the heart felt need to help the #LionHeart campaign was created. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness as well as funds that are donated to non-profit organizations stationed in India that help the lost children stay safe and in some cases even return them home to their families. The three organizations that have partnered with the campaign are Magic Bus, Childline India, and Railway Children India.
On an article published by the Huffington Post United Kingdom, Andy McCullough who is the Head of Public Affairs for Railway Children India addressed the boost the campaign has given the organization and mentions how Nicole Kidman donated $10,000 to the cause. McCullough also describes the work they do in the effort of reaching vulnerable children before they are taken advantage of.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” — said Barack Obama
Let us be encouraged by the words of our previous president and motivated by the touching story of the once five year old Saroo Brierley. Together we can make a real difference and save many lives. There are so many innocent lost children that are in need of immediate protection in India, lets take action and raise awareness. The #LionHeart campaign is helping the children of India by donating the raised funds to non-profit organizations, now it’s up to us to pinch in to give a lost child a better life.
