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ACTRESS MAGGIE Q TO RECEIVE
WORLD TOURISM HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2018
FOR HER DEDICATED WORK ON BEHALF OF KAGENO,
AN NGO WITH PROJECTS IN KENYA AND RWANDA
NOVEMBER 5, 2018, WORLD TRAVEL MARKET LONDON
Actress Maggie Q will receive the World Tourism Humanitarian
Award on November 5, 2018, the opening day of World
Travel Market (WTM) London,
at the ExCel Centre. Maggie Q will be presented the award as
part of the annual World Tourism Awards ceremony sponsored
by Corinthia
Hotels, The
New York Times, United
Airlines and host
sponsor Reed
Travel Exhibitions.
Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor and world-renowned
travel expert, will host the Award presentation.
The World Tourism Humanitarian Award is being presented to
Maggie Q, Good Will Ambassador for Kageno, in recognition
of her humanitarian efforts by raising funds in support of Kageno,
an organization that transforms impoverished communities,
specifically in Kenya and Rwanda, by focusing on programs
for clean water, health care, conservation and education.
Maggie Q, stated that she was highly honored to get this
recognition for her support of Kageno, “which has been a
beautiful model in responsible tourism.” She added, “My
friend and Kageno founder, Frank Andolino, never planned on
visiting a country and returning soon after to give back to
the culture and its people. It happens when you open your
heart to the need, and tell yourself, I can do more.”
About Kageno (“A
Place of Hope” in local Kenyan Dholuo dialect)
Kageno believes that
there is no “single solution” for communities living in
poverty. There has to be change across multiple sectors, to
effectively transform an impoverished community. This is why
Kageno works with community leaders to develop programs in
four key areas: Education, Healthcare, Ventures (Income
Generation), and Environment.
Kageno helps villages build schools, health centers,
pharmacies, sanitation and clean water systems and develop
programs to help them protect their fragile environments. It
then builds community centers with learning tools and
internet access, identify training programs that support the
program’s efforts to build local economies. Kageno programs
give members of the community the ability to develop skills
and start new businesses, create jobs, invest in their
environment, control the spread of infectious diseases and
ultimately live better, healthier lives.
Kageno designs programs designed to be sustainable, after
its initial investment the projects are nurtured for several
years until the point where the community can take over and
run the programs on their own. As an example, the initial
programs in Rusinga Island have been turned over to the
community and are being successfully run without further
investment or dependency on Kageno.
Maggie Q’s Impact on Kageno
Maggie Q has been a major force behind Kageno from its
inception 15 years ago when she generously funded the
construction of a medical clinic, sponsored ten at-risk
children, and donated to Kageno’s healthcare and
conservation initiatives. Since then, Maggie has traveled to
Rwanda and Kenya to visit Kageno project sites, hosted
Kageno events, spoken at fundraisers and successfully raised
awareness of Kageno’s work to the global community.
Maggie Q’s activism has also benefited a major environmental
initiative by Kageno in Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest National
Park, the largest remaining mid-altitude forest in Africa.
With 13 primate species, over 300 bird species (27 which are
endemic to the Albertine Rift), over 150 species of orchids
and over 100 species of butterflies, Nyungwe is an
incredibly rich and biodiverse jewel in need of protection.
Many local people in the Nyungwe Forest area engage in
activities such as illegal logging and poaching. These
activities are detrimental to the long-term integrity of the
forest and to the natural resource based livelihoods of the
local population. Other detrimental activities include
illegal mining for gold and columbo-tantalite, a mineral
used for the production of cell phones.
Kageno’s support of the communities around the Nyungwe
Forest National Park has raised awareness of the necessity
of natural resource protection, contributing to the
conservation of the park’s resources and linking
conservation with development and improvement of living
conditions within the communities.
Kageno Founder, Dr. Frank Andolino, said “Maggie’s impact
has been powerfully felt by the thousands of people,
especially women and children, and ecosystems in the
countries and communities where Kageno serves. Her support
is key to the success of our mission to transform
impoverished communities into places of hope and
opportunity.”
This year Maggie’s passion and support will help raise funds
for Kageno to build a new full service maternity center, and
an Eco-lodge, the construction of which will give jobs to
ex-poachers and jobless locals, and bring tourism dollars
into the community.
About Maggie Q
Maggie Q is an
actress, activist and entrepreneur who has become a health
advocate for all. She currently stars as F.B.I Agent Hannah
Wells on Netflix’s White House drama “Designated Survivor.”
Maggie is best known for her role as ‘Nikita’ on CW’s
successful action series of the same name. “Nikita”
chronicled the story of a rogue assassin (played by Maggie
Q) who returns to take down the secret organization that
trained her. Maggie followed that series with another TV
role starring opposite Dylan McDermott on CBS’ drama series
“Stalker.”
In March 2014, Maggie starred as Tori in Summit
Entertainment’s box office hit “Divergent,” alongside
Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet and Naomi Watts and returned
in “Allegiant” which was released in March of 2016.
She has just finished production with Luke Hemsworth on the
film “Death of Me” due to release next year. Maggie also
starred in “The Con is On” opposite Uma Thurman, Tim Roth,
Sofia Vegara and Stephen Fry along with Independent thriller
“Jekyll Island,” alongside Minnie Driver and John Leguizamo.
Additional film credits include “Mission Impossible III,”
“Live Free or Die Hard,” “Deception,” “New York, I Love
You,” “Balls of Fury,” “House of Harmony,” “The Warrior and
the Wolf” and Daniel Lee’s “Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of
the Dragon,” “Naked Weapon” and “Gen-X Cops2.
Maggie is a native of Honolulu, Hawaii and has traveled the
globe since her upbringing. She is an animal and human
rights activist through her support of groups such as PETA,
Best Friends Animal Society, WildAid, Animals Asia
Foundation, Kageno and the Washington D.C. based PCRM
(Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine). Currently
she is entering into the Child Abuse Prevention space in the
U.S., working with multiple groups to change the stigma
around the conversations of Abuse and Neglect.
Actress Maggie Q to receive 2018 World Tourism
Humanitarian Award
The Award itself, Caring for Our World, was
specially designed and handcrafted on the Mediterranean
Island of Malta by Mdina
Glass, and celebrates the qualities of leadership and
vision that inspire others to care for all people around the
World.
About the World Tourism Awards
The World Tourism
Awards, celebrating its 21st Anniversary, are
presented annually at World
Travel Market (WTM) London by Corinthia
Hotels, The
New York Times, United
Airlines and host
sponsor Reed
Travel Exhibitions .
The Award ceremony was inaugurated in 1997 to “recognize
individuals, companies, organizations, destinations and
attractions for outstanding initiatives related to the
travel and tourism industry, and in fostering sustainable
tourism and developing programs that give back to local
communities.”
The Award ceremony and reception will take place on
Monday, Nov. 5, 2018, at World Travel Market London, 4:30 PM
to 5:30 PM, at Excel Centre, London. The reception is hosted
by United Airlines.
2018 World Tourism Awards Hashtags: #WTA21st #WTMLondon
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