Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Computer donated!
Sutra Hewison from Australia donated her 2006 MAC for Ricot. We are in the process of getting it ready to be hand delivered to Haiti. New battery, new camera, new power cord. Almost done! Yeah! Thank you Sutra and Facebook!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Looking for MAC laptop!
We still are looking for a MAC laptop to send to Ricot in Haiti. You will get a tax deduction.
Friday, June 11, 2010
On a roll!
In March we went to Haiti. Why Haiti? We wanted to show how homeopathy is used in emergency situations. We contacted Homeopaths Without Borders (most people don't know they exist) and found out they were going back to Haiti in March. We quickly made our plans to go.
It was quite and experience. Intense, exhausting, hot... and amazing. The people we met were wonderful. Please check out our website to see some of this footage.
And, while there, we found many stories we continue to follow. We met up with Homeopaths Without Borders. (HWB) The mission of HWB is to help in emergency situations, but also to provide tools. This is where the story got really interesting. We were interviewing Robin Murphy, an naturopath in VA, who said “We want to help in a way that self sustaining and self sufficient not just hit and run.”
Ricot Paulema, a Haitian who now lives in a “tent city,” was one of our crew members.
While listening to Robin, Ricot asked if he could learn. He wanted to aid his family and community – many who were sick and not getting proper medical care. Robin Murphy gave Ricot some instructions, a pile of his books, and a kit of emergency remedies. Ricot has been studying homeopathy since, successfully treating his fellow Haitians. We have been in communication with Ricot via his cell phone, as often as we can (he has no computer or means to communicate via the internet) With the help of Robin, we are getting Ricot more remedies and books. We also hope to buy Ricot a used computer computer so he can access the internet stay in communication with Robin and us. We also want to get him a video camera so he can document his progress.
How did we find Ricot? Eileen Torpey, who is working on this film (as with any small film crew, she has multiple talents so wears multiple hats: co-producer, production coordinator, photographer, fundraiser, artistic consultant, etc.) She had a friend, Alex, who had worked with Ricot as a camera assistant for many years. Little did we know, that Ricot would become such an integral part of our film. Eileen also took that great photo we have posted on this blog!
On our second to last day in Haiti, we decided to go around during "magic hour" (when the sun is starting to set and the light is nice) and film some of the collapsed buildings. While shooting the Presidential Palace I spotted a group of deaf people who were hanging out nearby. I am a former American Sign Language interpreter. “Are you deaf” I signed. They answered “yes”. “You understand me?” Yes, they responded. I was surprised! What most people don't know is that like spoken language, every country has its own sign language.
Their residential school, St Vincents school for the handicapped, had collapsed during the quake so they have been temporary living in tents in a nearby soccer field across from the Presidential Palace. They eagerly ushered us into their "home". Ingrid Schmitt, a homeopath from Montreal who is half Haitian and is featured in our film, quickly got her remedies from the car, and I did my best to interpret (not knowing a word of Creole!) while she treated as many people as she could before the sun set. In coming back to the states, I did some research to find out that St Vincents School is connected to American School for the Deaf in CN. I have been in communication with a nurse from that school, to get an update on what is happening to those deaf people. I found out that they have resumed classes in a building that is still standing, and hope to set up a temporary medical clinic on the grounds. I spoke with them, and HWB about getting homeopathy used at that clinic. We are doing our best to get them services.
All of my films have helped individuals and communities once they are completed and distributed but this is the first time I have made a film where people's lives are being changed while we are still in production! This is exciting and gives us lots of motivation to keep going.
FUNDRAISER IN CALGARY
At the end of May, the Xerion Homeopathy Clinic in Calgary Canada hosted a fundraiser for the film with great wines and foods, entertainment, and a silent auction. Even though it snowed that night they still managed to raise almost $6,000. Check our website for an interview with Erin, the founder and CEO of Xerion.
CREATIVE FUNDRAISING IDEAS! LET'S PARTY!
We are still actively fundraising and we still need your help! (donate here) While we love your individual donations, of course, we also want to encourage you to host a fundraising event in your community. You can do a fundraisier like Xerion did in Canada, or small house parties, or dinner parties. They are very simple to do. It is fun. We will help you. We have set up a page on our website that explains how to host a dinner party or event. Be creative in your fundraising! We have a page that gives ideas and guidelines for various fundraising ideas. Check it out!
We are planning a dinner party here in Santa Fe, using all local foods and wines. This event will celebrate local farmers, chefs and wineries as well as raise money for our film. As I have a very small goat farm I will include my goat products. This dinner party concept is very exciting to me, as it combines a lot of my passions! Food, entertainment, and filmmaking! We are also planning an event in Oregon in August, and NYC in the Fall. This is true grassroots fundraising, combining local food, local farmers, local wineries, and homeopathy!
We also have a lot of plans for the production of this film. We are still following the on-going progress of Luca's (the boy with autism). We are hoping to get to Cuba to follow another story, and continuing to do research on many other stories we hear about. Together, we can make this film and get the word out about homeopathy!
The film is taking off. We look foward to hearing from you!
It was quite and experience. Intense, exhausting, hot... and amazing. The people we met were wonderful. Please check out our website to see some of this footage.
And, while there, we found many stories we continue to follow. We met up with Homeopaths Without Borders. (HWB) The mission of HWB is to help in emergency situations, but also to provide tools. This is where the story got really interesting. We were interviewing Robin Murphy, an naturopath in VA, who said “We want to help in a way that self sustaining and self sufficient not just hit and run.”
Ricot Paulema, a Haitian who now lives in a “tent city,” was one of our crew members.
While listening to Robin, Ricot asked if he could learn. He wanted to aid his family and community – many who were sick and not getting proper medical care. Robin Murphy gave Ricot some instructions, a pile of his books, and a kit of emergency remedies. Ricot has been studying homeopathy since, successfully treating his fellow Haitians. We have been in communication with Ricot via his cell phone, as often as we can (he has no computer or means to communicate via the internet) With the help of Robin, we are getting Ricot more remedies and books. We also hope to buy Ricot a used computer computer so he can access the internet stay in communication with Robin and us. We also want to get him a video camera so he can document his progress.
How did we find Ricot? Eileen Torpey, who is working on this film (as with any small film crew, she has multiple talents so wears multiple hats: co-producer, production coordinator, photographer, fundraiser, artistic consultant, etc.) She had a friend, Alex, who had worked with Ricot as a camera assistant for many years. Little did we know, that Ricot would become such an integral part of our film. Eileen also took that great photo we have posted on this blog!
On our second to last day in Haiti, we decided to go around during "magic hour" (when the sun is starting to set and the light is nice) and film some of the collapsed buildings. While shooting the Presidential Palace I spotted a group of deaf people who were hanging out nearby. I am a former American Sign Language interpreter. “Are you deaf” I signed. They answered “yes”. “You understand me?” Yes, they responded. I was surprised! What most people don't know is that like spoken language, every country has its own sign language.
Their residential school, St Vincents school for the handicapped, had collapsed during the quake so they have been temporary living in tents in a nearby soccer field across from the Presidential Palace. They eagerly ushered us into their "home". Ingrid Schmitt, a homeopath from Montreal who is half Haitian and is featured in our film, quickly got her remedies from the car, and I did my best to interpret (not knowing a word of Creole!) while she treated as many people as she could before the sun set. In coming back to the states, I did some research to find out that St Vincents School is connected to American School for the Deaf in CN. I have been in communication with a nurse from that school, to get an update on what is happening to those deaf people. I found out that they have resumed classes in a building that is still standing, and hope to set up a temporary medical clinic on the grounds. I spoke with them, and HWB about getting homeopathy used at that clinic. We are doing our best to get them services.
All of my films have helped individuals and communities once they are completed and distributed but this is the first time I have made a film where people's lives are being changed while we are still in production! This is exciting and gives us lots of motivation to keep going.
FUNDRAISER IN CALGARY
At the end of May, the Xerion Homeopathy Clinic in Calgary Canada hosted a fundraiser for the film with great wines and foods, entertainment, and a silent auction. Even though it snowed that night they still managed to raise almost $6,000. Check our website for an interview with Erin, the founder and CEO of Xerion.
CREATIVE FUNDRAISING IDEAS! LET'S PARTY!
We are still actively fundraising and we still need your help! (donate here) While we love your individual donations, of course, we also want to encourage you to host a fundraising event in your community. You can do a fundraisier like Xerion did in Canada, or small house parties, or dinner parties. They are very simple to do. It is fun. We will help you. We have set up a page on our website that explains how to host a dinner party or event. Be creative in your fundraising! We have a page that gives ideas and guidelines for various fundraising ideas. Check it out!
We are planning a dinner party here in Santa Fe, using all local foods and wines. This event will celebrate local farmers, chefs and wineries as well as raise money for our film. As I have a very small goat farm I will include my goat products. This dinner party concept is very exciting to me, as it combines a lot of my passions! Food, entertainment, and filmmaking! We are also planning an event in Oregon in August, and NYC in the Fall. This is true grassroots fundraising, combining local food, local farmers, local wineries, and homeopathy!
We also have a lot of plans for the production of this film. We are still following the on-going progress of Luca's (the boy with autism). We are hoping to get to Cuba to follow another story, and continuing to do research on many other stories we hear about. Together, we can make this film and get the word out about homeopathy!
The film is taking off. We look foward to hearing from you!
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