Posts Tagged ‘video’

Posted on October 14, 2009

Working with Michelle

I have had the privilege and honour of working with one of the most dedicated and hard-working volunteers I have ever met. Michelle Bonneau, a hard-nosed Canadian from Kelowna, BC has been working in Nepal for over 3 years now as a social counseling volunteer with VSO Nepal’s HIV/AIDS programme and as the heart and soul of IWEN Canada’s (Inter-cultural Women’s Education Network) indentured girls programme (www.iwencanada.com).

When Michelle should be sleeping, she is working. When she should be resting or taking it easy, she is working even harder. When she should be eating, well c’mon now, she is no doubt eating AND working at the same time.

The video

Michelle recruited me (more like strong-armed me with her Canadian charm) to help build a slide show of photos about IWEN’s indentured girls programme in the Dang district of Nepal. She needed it to show at IWEN Canada’s AGM in October.

I said “suuurrrre, why not?!?” as creating a simple slide show wouldn’t take too long to do. Not aware of what I was getting myself into, I also mentioned, “so it’s too bad we don’t have enough time to get some video footage because it would be neat to do instead a video/photo slideshow mixed in with music and interviews, etc.”.

Sure enough, Michelle made it happen. I miraculously got some footage (that needed to be converted) along with pages of translated text for subtitles (that needed to be painstakingly sync’d), and the whip of Michelle’s need for perfection (ouch) driving me into the wee hours of the night in order to get this video presentation done (in less than a week).

It was definitely worth it in the end.

The video is generous length of 21 minutes and there was so much more footage, photos, and stories that had to be left out (and no, there are no plans to make the extended DVD version). I had to choose only a handful of portraits from hundreds, images of girls recently sponsored by IWEN Canada (I personally just wanted to use them all).

While working on the video, I found it almost impossible to not be affected by the some of the girl’s personal accounts of not having the opportunity to know how to read or write, to not have freedom to go out or to have friends, to not know how to properly clean themselves, or to even not know their real names or when their real birth days are.

It was heart breaking to hear and watch.

(And for me to think, I walk down the street everyday and see potentially see underprivileged children, sometimes I not even noticing or thinking twice about what some of them are going through.)

I can see why Michelle works so very hard and why people like her possess the will and unwavering determination to keep on going, doing what they do.

Anyhow, without further ado, here is the video…it was my pleasure Michelle.

IWEN Canada – Indentured Girls Programme from Rex on Vimeo.

IWEN Canada – Indentured Girls Programme is a program that rescues bonded girls from slavery and gives them a new meaning in life through education in Nepal.

Posted on September 27, 2009

Men weren’t meant to ride…

with clouds between their knees… - from Superman (It’s Not Easy), Five for Fighting.

One of the most truly amazing, sublime experiences. On our last day in Pokhara, I decided to find out what it would feel like to be Superman.

I went with Sarangkot Paragliding since Blue Sky Paragliding didn’t have any spots available for that day. They are the new, little-guy on the block but I’m really glad I went with them (laid-back , and friendly service). My trusted pilot was Peter Volf who is also a professional photography and fellow web-guy.

Taking off was easy and the whole feeling of being lifted off the ground reminded me of being on those carousel swing rides at an amusement park when I was a kid. Surprisingly, I wasn’t really nervous at all but really anxious to fly. Peter, my calm, confident, reassuring Czech was great.

We soared around the mountain-side and over Nepali villages. As the saying goes, people and especially children playing looked like ants running around the ground. You really do feel like a bird as you search and chase for thermals to carry you up higher and higher into the sky.

My senses were overwhelmed.

I didn’t get to see much of the Himalayan mountains but I felt closer to them than ever before. The day was a scorcher on the ground but up in the air it was heaven. I even saw a hawk fly beneath my feet.

It was so quiet and peaceful – it felt like an entirely a whole new world up there. It was only a half-hour flight but it felt like an eternity.

Landing was a piece of cake (well sort of, the picture looks worse than it really was).

As I hit the ground, the hard and sad reality of being confined to land quickly returned. It was such a surreal experience.

I definitely recommend tandem paragliding in Nepal. As my pilot would agree, Nepal is probably one of the most inexpensive places to do it and without a doubt has the most spectacular sceneries in the world to see from the air.

(and of course, I have a video clip)

Posted on April 1, 2009

A Library for Chankhu Besi

Project completed!

Related posts:

• Books for Chankhu Besi Project Update
• A Librarian/Tree Hugger and a Painter without Borders

It was an amazing yet exhausting day. I had to climb up the mountain 3 times to help bring down the books and equipment. Most of the community members were surprised to see me again and of course asked me where the rest of my group was. They were even more curious to know what I was bringing to the school.

The children immediately clamoured over each other to get at the books like there was no tomorrow. Most of the children were so busy reading that they hardly noticed that we were there.

We had a small presentation by the school teacher of the items that we had brought followed by a short lecture on how to take care of the learning materials. The day ended upon receiving a framed letter of appreciation from the village leader.

It was such an immense heartfelt feeling witnessing everything first hand. Seeing the joy and smiles from everyone and also the emanating interest and curiousity from the children when they flipped through those pages. I only wish that I could have shared the experience with everyone.

Thank you so much to the following people who supported our project:

Kathy, Anne Maise, Isabelle, Theresa, June, Mary, Sue, Dennis, George, Allie, Tlell, Melissa, and Cameron. And to our Nepali support, Uday, Ajimme, and Sano.

(Apologies to those for whom we have missed or have misspelled their names).

I’m sure our group will return to Chankhu Besi to visit our respective Nepali families but to also help the local school community maintain their new library as well as help train teachers on how to effectively teach their students how to read.

Once again on behalf of Gord (http://gordclements.ca/) and myself, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Posted on January 30, 2009

Looking Back

After many, many attempts via slow computer networks and even dial-up Internet accoess (yes, Internet dial-up using 28.8 kbps is still a reality here), I have successfully uploaded a 25-minute video of our time here in Nepal during VSO’s in-country-training program.

In this video (hosted by Vimeo) you will find photos and video footage of our arrival and first night in Kathmandu, our welcome party at the VSO Nepal office, Nepali language and cultural classes, our first walk through Thamel Market, the sights at Swayambhunath Stupa, our time in Chetana Kendra, life changing moments during our village stay in Chankhu Besi, our visit to Pashupatinath, Nepali food cooking class, and our last day with our Nepali gurus.

Not only do I have fond memories of our journeys but I also really enjoyed making this video for my new friends. We have all shared a unique experience together that we will never forget. So without further ado, here are our personal memories…

Posted on September 20, 2008

11 Kathmandu Street Scenes

Do a search on YouTube for “Kathmandu Nepal” brings up copious amounts of clips ranging from personal tourist videos and commentary diaries to breaking news reports and informal documentaries.

One of our favourite videos that captures what I hope to see and experience once we get there is called “11 Kathmandu Street Scenes“.

Well-captured, captivating sound, and NO cheesy background music either.