Glad I am not claustrophobic....

The documentary is going smooth in terms of characters and a central point. The Notki village is a perfect example of what the foundation has done and can do for rural areas. The family is super nice and their cooperation is allowing us to capture some great things. Yesterday we decided we wanted to go to a village that was less progressive and could showcase a contrast to the Notki village. The village leaders were very nice and granted us access with question, but I did not know what I was getting myself into. Filming in the village was an absolute nightmare. I wanted to capture the atmoshpere of the village, but the village residents went crazy about me and it was like being swarmed with people non-stop. I always try to get involved with the children and show them how a camera works, but as soon as I showed them they went crazy and were fighting each other to try to get next to me, next to the camera, or in front of the camera. Every time I tried to get a good shot of how dirty the streets were, how the village's school was totally opposite of Notki, or just how the people were living in worse conditions, there would be a ton of kids that just came into the shot. It was a true learning experience. I looked over the footage today, and I would say I can use about 10 percent of it. It was crazy to see that less than 20 kilometers away a village was living a complete 180 than Notki. It made me realize how important the Foundations interventions are and how important it is for the villages to make an effort to assist the foundation on it's own self-sustainability. It was a crazy day....to make a long story short, I almost fell into a 180 foot water well......(that would have been some amazing footage haha) ....I am even more aware of my surroundings now so Mom don't worry....

I will be in Notki again tommorow to attain footage of some of the female's daily lives, and I am very excited and the kids are as well.



This is a photo by Juan with me and one of our subjects, Ishacc. He is a farmer and we enjoy conversation about agriculture and living off the land. He was the Notki village leader many years ago.

I wonder how these children perceive a camera ?

This is a day of filming in the Notki village. I like filming here because the people understand that they need to be behind the camera when there is an interview. The current village leader was about to be filmed here.

This is the less-progressive village I was talking about. What you see is only a fraction of how many people were following and swarming around me. I am sure you can see the anxiety on my face. There was more people in front of me as well. It was a true obstacle, and I hope that if I have to go back I can make it clear that they need to be behind the camera when I am filming.

The contrasted village really needs the help of the foundation. The village leader said they need to foundation really badly. The leader said that the foundation approached them 2 years ago but he said the village as a whole was not ready to cooperate and work together with the initiative. He said now they realize how bad it really is getting, and they are ready to cooperate. It was really bad. I saw things like open defacation, a school that seemed not usable, 1 toilet for the whole village, a drainage system that was not draining but instead exposing sewage to the streets, a very low sweet water well, and just looks on children's faces that would change anybody. I am pulling for the village, and I hope they can turn things around...