Assignment Archives - Page 4 of 10

Assignment

Leave it to the Experts: Innovative HIV Programs in Malawi

June 30, 2014

We’ve reached a global hinge point in the treatment of HIV. People living with the disease are no longer passive beneficiaries. After more than a decade of receiving health and nutrition training, HIV+ people are often times living healthier lifestyles than many of their negative peers. Catholic Relief Services‘ Expert Client program places trained HIV+ community members in local health facilities where they guide new patients through the rigors of anti-retroviral treatment (ARV). By using their own experience of living with the disease to counsel and mentor, they empower the new patients to live more healthy and productive lives. I recently shot and produced this video for CRS in southern Malawi. The program is funded by USAID.

Crafting a Future

May 14, 2014

Many NGO’s focus on building livelihoods through agriculture. What about the people that live in areas where crop production is literally not a viable option? Kenya’s Emali district has been hit by recurring drought for the last decade, making farming next to impossible. In this documentary short, which I shot and edited, we see the blueprint of a grant from the Government of New Zealand implemented by ChildFund Kenya called “Building Resources in Two Drought Affected Communities.” As our narrators tell us, the aim of the program is not just to build secure livelihoods of the program’s participants, but also to preserve precious and unique cultural traditions and craftwork among the Kamba and Maasai peoples in Emali. Along the way we get an idea of the artists’ creation process and even a beauty tip from the Maasai. The program has made quite a splash in New Zealand media. 3News, Dominion[…]

Seeing My Wild Side

April 26, 2014

My passion is to tell people’s stories. Sometimes, however, I find myself in places of incredible natural beauty where creatures other than humans make their dwelling. Already this year I’ve had no shortage of close encounters with the animal kingdom. The footage above and a few of the photographs below were taken as part of an assignment for Millennium Challenge Corporation to illustrate the aid agency’s economic and tourism development programs in Namibia’s Etosha National Park. Other photographs were taken during a family vacation in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, some while on my honeymoon in Mauritius, and others still while shooting out of a moving vehicle during an assignment in Tanzania. Above, the mighty Nile River squeezes itself into a 23 foot gap of surging water at Murchison Falls. Above is Chamarel Waterfall in Mauritius; below are Namibia’s Etendeka Mountains as viewed from the Grootberg Lodge. On a[…]

Essential Amharic

March 30, 2014

If there are any words a faranji, or foreigner, might be likely to learn when visiting Ethiopia, wuha and injera would easily make the top five; the former meaning water in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, the latter not having an English equivalent. Much of my recent time in Ethiopia was spent documenting the problems associated with getting wuha, easily the most fundamental of life’s necessities, but sadly quite hard to come by in a number of places in the world. The video I shot and produced above shows the difficulties that people living in some rural areas of south-central Ethiopia have in accessing the resource. Fast-paced and polished, this video will be used by ChildFund, Australia in an upcoming campaign to bring water to the area. Ethiopia is not entirely water-scarce; I hate to give that impression. There are places in the country where cattle graze in plentiful, green pasture alongside rolling[…]

Don’t Forget to Write!

March 7, 2014

I’ve just completed a series of videos for ChildFund, International on how sponsors and sponsored children interact with each other. Sponsorship is about much more than sending money each month. It’s about corresponding and encouraging children in developing countries, as well as learning about those countries and their cultures. This short spot shows how Margaret, from Uganda, and her sponsor’s family in California, keep in touch via snail mail, and how her sponsor’s family shares in the dreams for her future. Of the three videos I created in the series Margaret’s profile was my favorite, though you can see others here on Youtube. Skeptical about sponsorship? I have to admit that I was too. You might find an article by Christianity Today, and the science behind it, surprising. It’s written from a faith-based perspective, but the principles laid out here carry over to secular organizations as well.

Water in a Dry Land

January 14, 2014

Throughout the world people migrate to large cities in search of better services like education and water. In Jordan, however, when your city is located in the desert, getting enough water for your daily needs can still be a constant challenge. It’s a bit ironic that Jordan, named after the river that makes its western border with Israel, is one of the driest countries on the planet. Living conditions are especially hard in Jordan’s second-largest city of Zarqa, just north-west of Amman. Here residents experience all the hassles and discomforts of a limited and antiquated water system. Not all houses have running water; if you are lucky enough to have it, you probably have it for only a day or two in a given week. In the above video, residents talk about their struggles and hopes for Zarqa’s water system. Precious drinking water is wasted because many municipal pipes, seemingly[…]

Getting it Right the First Time – Honduras

December 2, 2013

What’s the one thing that parents can do to raise their children properly? I’m not yet a dad, but I’m at least aware there’s not simply one thing that parents can do to ensure their kids are on the right track. On the contrary, parenting is a holistic affair. ChildFund has a similar approach in its early childhood development programs in Honduras, which allow kids to get the start they need in life in order to realize their full potential. Working amidst the surrounding poverty, their integrated programs emphasize the need for proper nutrition, early stimulation, and love and attention at home from parents and caregivers. Crucial ingredients in the program are the door-to-door guide mothers who carry information and awareness to households, monitoring children’s nutritional and health status along the way. Guide mothers teach parents proper brain stimulation during crucial early years, and quickly identify developmental difficulties to keep[…]

Your Daily Dose of Vegetables

November 2, 2013

My latest video piece, which I shot for Lutheran World Relief, has given me premonitions of giving it all up and moving out to the country to be a farmer. That’s easier done than most people seeing as how I already live in Africa. Mina seems to like the idea. She used to only farm rice and corn, allowing her family to scrape by at best. LWR‘s agricultural programs in Bihar, India have allowed hers and hundreds of others’ crops to thrive in an otherwise dry and rocky environment. Hit play above and sway along with the saris and sitars.

Chaos & Calm

October 7, 2013

Whether you’re in a rickshaw or a limousine, in a city of fourteen million no one is immune to the horrors of traffic. India’s third-largest city, Kolkata (otherwise known as Calcutta, or কলকাতা), was my base for the last two weeks during dual video assignments for Lutheran World Relief and ChildFund. During journeys in and out of the city and on not-so-leisurely strolls, I spent a great deal of time in a teeming, chaotic muddle and thought I’d share some of it with you. Hit play below for 28 seconds of the city’s hustle and bustle. While the videos are still on my editing table, I’ll share some select stills from Kolkata’s streets, as well as shots from Lutheran World Relief’s agriculture projects in the State of Bihar, where smiles are plentiful and life goes at a much slower pace. Below I give a sneak preview of footage to LWR‘s[…]

Andean High

September 25, 2013

I’m back in Latin America for the first time in several years. Actually, by the time I publish this I’ll be in India, but anyway. As I work to film and produce a series of videos on the organization’s Early Childhood Development Programs world-wide, recent assignments with ChildFund took me first to Honduras, then to on Ecuador. I also spent a day on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador’s lofty colonial capital, visiting gardens, schools, and communities supported by ChildFund. I was able to take some time to nab a few stills in the old town too.