culture Archives - Jake Lyell

Post Tagged with: "culture"

Palm Fruit Soup from the Gambia

May 6, 2022

Meals are often more flavorful and fresh in the developing world where ingredients are sourced locally and additives and preservatives aren’t much of an option. During the course of my recent assignment in The Gambia, I not only tasted the local food but also was able to document its creation. For the everyday meal here, cooking is an event, an art, a sacred ritual. It’s labor intensive and nothing is ever wasted. Why would you want to toss out food when you put so much effort into making it? This cooking demonstration, hosted by teenage girls Fatoumatta and Bintou, was created as part of ChildFund’s Food Waste Challenge. Grab your mortar, pestle, and if you can find it, some palm fruit, to follow along at home.

Smiles from Timor-Leste

November 28, 2016

One thing I love about working with ChildFund is the bit of extra time they sometimes allow me to focus my lens on a country’s culture and daily life. In addition to shooting a few videos recently for the organization in Timor-Leste, I also shot these photographs, which give bit of insight into the country’s people and the terrain that is their home. Special emphasis was also placed on the beautiful practice of traditional Timorese weaving, seen below, which is a livelihood for many women on the island.

Through Wild Karamoja

October 18, 2015

The journey by road to Uganda’s Kidepo Valley National Park takes you through the remote and untamed Karamoja region. Don’t linger too long with the locals, or you may miss out on the wildlife ahead.

Submerged in the Subcontinent

April 11, 2015

I’ve had so many assignments in India lately that I might as well move there (I’m due back in Delhi in a week’s time). It’s a nice idea, but I can only take so much curry & spice. Here a few stills from wanderings in Delhi and Lucknow, along with a video and stills on ChildFund’s Books, My Friends program in Udaipur District.

Wonder of the Kathmandu Valley

March 3, 2015

Wedged between the Indian subcontinent and the lofty Himalayas, Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley is a place where various cultures and religions meld together to create a spiritual fusion. While anthropologists may say otherwise, locals will tell you there is no distinction between Buddhism and Hinduism here. With settlements dating back as far as 130BC, the valley is home to the most dense collection of UNESCO World Heritage Sites anywhere in the world. Filming took place over four early mornings at some of Kathmandu’s most sacred and ancient temples, as well as on the every day streets of this bustling metropolis.

Mombasa Groove

January 8, 2015

Beat the traffic blues and sway along with the tuk-tuks and baobab trees. This is Mombasa! I shot this entirely with the GoPro Hero3+, controlling the camera from inside the car using the GoPro app.

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[…]

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[…]

Everywhere a Coffee Bar

February 10, 2014

Three coffee shops next to each other on the same block? One right across from the other? This isn’t the left bank of the Seine or downtown DC. This is Ethiopia! Sure, coffee is grown and exported from other African countries like Tanzania and Kenya, but only in Ethiopia is coffee cultivated, harvested, roasted, and afterwards widely consumed by the public. In fact, coffee is deeply entrenched in the fiber of Ethiopian society. Long before the Italians came to attempt a takeover of the country (they failed), Ethiopians have been savoring sweet espresso, home-style. The Italian espresso machine did catch on, however, as it has elsewhere, and is nearly as ubiquitous in Ethiopia as the jabena, the traditional kettle in which coffee is prepared here. Coffee even originates from Ethiopia. It comes from a region known as Kaffa, from which most languages derive their word for the caffeinated essential. Below,[…]

Cashing in on Cattle – Kotido, Uganda

June 14, 2011

Kotido’s weekly cattle market is deep in the land of the Karamojong tribe. It’s a great place for those seeking discount prices on livestock. However, sometimes the great bargains come at the expense of neighboring tribes.