Everyn & Stephano

In preparing for our visits in Malawi Christy and I realized something peculiar. Two of the children we were to visit, who had been sponsored by two unrelated families, had sequential ID numbers from World Vision. That meant that they had likely been entered into the program at the same time. They looked a bit alike, so we did some digging and found out they were indeed siblings. So Christy’s parents, and a family Christy had met at the preschool where she works, together are giving these siblings hope for a better future. Travel along with us in meeting Everyn & Stephano!

Falida E

This video is a good example of the child visits we did in Malawi. The technical aspect of capturing these visits was challenging. Many days we were worried about batteries running out and memory cards getting full- so it was hard to chose what to shoot. We wanted to capture it all, but technically that was just not possible. We had to pick and choose what would be important. Sometimes we missed things, and sometimes we got lucky. It was very hard to predict what was going to happen. This particular day things were going well. We had full batteries, room on our camera cards and got great footage. This video also gave us some technical issues with the audio timing and took a great deal of effort to get it all fixed and up on the web- but I think it’s worth it. This is on my Vimeo account as well, but due to their file size limit, the resolution was reduced. So here is the sharper 720p version from Christy’s YouTube account. You may have to select 720p on the bottom to get the full sharpness as YouTube will probably default to a lower resolution. Enjoy!

Reflective Dissonance

I am through the holidays and feeling a bit unsettled. My brain has not wanted to create easily, not sleeping the best. I saw so much in Africa. At the end of my Christmas break from work, I was just beginning to feel like I was ready to write and edit more video footage. I begin to start, but then I feel like I want to sit on the couch, watch old movies and sleep. Why?

Well I am not really sure, but I suspect my brain is full and still processing. I chose to show the picture above with many faces and expressions and moods because in a small way, it encapsulates what I experienced. I feel deeply and have a sensitive tactile memory of their eyes, hands, face, energy, hope, and lust for life. The stories and videos will come, but for now it seems they cannot be coaxed out easily or predictably. Reflecting well and honestly is hard. It takes a lot of effort; but is worth the work. Africa is sweet and sour, simple and complicated. It is the best place in the world, and worst at the same time. It reflects the shiny brilliance of the children’s eyes’ and the grimy mud between their toes. It is soul filling and heartbreaking. It is worthy of reflecting, despite the dissonance.