Saturday 17 December 2011
Monday 12 December 2011
Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple)
Nameste from the hill tops of Kathmandu.
The cab ride through the busy streets of Nepal are always a thrilling roller coaster. You always feel on the edge of your seat and never know which way your body might suddenly shift. Rajesh, Mitchell and myself got into a Hope & Home cab, and journeyed to the top of Monkey Temple. The sun was near dusk, so cabbing to the top was our best bet if we wanted to see anything before sundown.
Near hill top, I saw my first monkey on the street. It was like see a small child covered with fur sitting on the grown. Then another one jumped out from underneath a car to chase a dog, then two more picking at each other on a roof top. Before I knew it they were everywhere. I can see why foreigners call this Monkey Temple, where as the locals call is Swayambhunath, which I learned from Rajesh meant "Self-Sprung". The religious belief is that this holy place sprung out of the ground.
I felt awkward pulling out my camera in this holy place, it had such a beautiful yet intense energy, but Rajesh kept insisting I take pictures, so I did. Where I felt the most out of place to pull out my camera was in this small intimate room where 5 monks and a young child monk were sitting together and praying and chanting together. Rajesh told me to take of my shoes and walk around them clock-wise to take photos. I felt really out of my element, but I was appreciative of the experience.
Monkey Temple was the first real place that I was also exposed to beggar children. Their innocent faces and unwashed bodies and faces were hard to see. I felt helpless not doing anything, but as I've learned and discovered while being here, it puts them in a worst position by giving them money, so I can only hope and pray that the universe, God, Krishna, will keep the innocent safe.
Philip
The cab ride through the busy streets of Nepal are always a thrilling roller coaster. You always feel on the edge of your seat and never know which way your body might suddenly shift. Rajesh, Mitchell and myself got into a Hope & Home cab, and journeyed to the top of Monkey Temple. The sun was near dusk, so cabbing to the top was our best bet if we wanted to see anything before sundown.
Near hill top, I saw my first monkey on the street. It was like see a small child covered with fur sitting on the grown. Then another one jumped out from underneath a car to chase a dog, then two more picking at each other on a roof top. Before I knew it they were everywhere. I can see why foreigners call this Monkey Temple, where as the locals call is Swayambhunath, which I learned from Rajesh meant "Self-Sprung". The religious belief is that this holy place sprung out of the ground.
I felt awkward pulling out my camera in this holy place, it had such a beautiful yet intense energy, but Rajesh kept insisting I take pictures, so I did. Where I felt the most out of place to pull out my camera was in this small intimate room where 5 monks and a young child monk were sitting together and praying and chanting together. Rajesh told me to take of my shoes and walk around them clock-wise to take photos. I felt really out of my element, but I was appreciative of the experience.
Monkey Temple was the first real place that I was also exposed to beggar children. Their innocent faces and unwashed bodies and faces were hard to see. I felt helpless not doing anything, but as I've learned and discovered while being here, it puts them in a worst position by giving them money, so I can only hope and pray that the universe, God, Krishna, will keep the innocent safe.
Philip
Ma Kohi Pani Ho
Namaste from Kathmandu, Nepal.
It is officially my 3rd day in Nepal, and it has been a total trip.
I finally arrived in the afternoon on Friday at the Kathmandu Nepal Tribhuvan International Airposrt, after a series of delayed flights, airport sprints and a few lost-in-translation moments. Mitchell patiently awaited my arrival with a Hope & Home cab driver. I was thrown off course, literally, as we swerved and bumped along the Kathmandu streets, but the culture was far off the one I had recently explored during my 13 hour layover in London, England.
The first thing I was amazed by, and still am, is the people. The walks, the talks and the communal aspect to this culture. Not even an hour here and Mitchell already had us a tea date with a local merchant nearby, who designs and sells jewelery and speaks very good french.
I've had a pleasure getting to know Rajesh, a Hope & Home worker and amazing tour guide. This man loves his city and through him I've gotten to know the beautiful things he loves about it. As well, since yesterday I have had morning classes to learn Nepalese and Nepalese culture through the stunning Yuzeena, who has been my teacher and window into the unseen layers of Nepal. She works as well for Hope & Home, but as well for Dharmik Nepal. I am really looking forward to seeing how these relationships flourish.
Opportunity; The words of the past few days. It has humbled me and taught me.
Pheri bhetaunla,
Philip
It is officially my 3rd day in Nepal, and it has been a total trip.
I finally arrived in the afternoon on Friday at the Kathmandu Nepal Tribhuvan International Airposrt, after a series of delayed flights, airport sprints and a few lost-in-translation moments. Mitchell patiently awaited my arrival with a Hope & Home cab driver. I was thrown off course, literally, as we swerved and bumped along the Kathmandu streets, but the culture was far off the one I had recently explored during my 13 hour layover in London, England.
The first thing I was amazed by, and still am, is the people. The walks, the talks and the communal aspect to this culture. Not even an hour here and Mitchell already had us a tea date with a local merchant nearby, who designs and sells jewelery and speaks very good french.
I've had a pleasure getting to know Rajesh, a Hope & Home worker and amazing tour guide. This man loves his city and through him I've gotten to know the beautiful things he loves about it. As well, since yesterday I have had morning classes to learn Nepalese and Nepalese culture through the stunning Yuzeena, who has been my teacher and window into the unseen layers of Nepal. She works as well for Hope & Home, but as well for Dharmik Nepal. I am really looking forward to seeing how these relationships flourish.
Opportunity; The words of the past few days. It has humbled me and taught me.
Pheri bhetaunla,
Friday 9 December 2011
Update from the Producers Desk: Prep & Pre-Production!
So a lot has happened since the latest blog post. To re cap:
Update: November 16th, 2011. WE WON THE CUBAN HAT CONTEST! Our director Philip, our research director and producer Julia, and Mitchell pitched their hearts out under the hot lights of the Cinematheque Quebecoise while producer Colin sat in the back and got as many people as possible to come vote for us. It was a lot of work, but it paid off. A major confidence booster for the team. The event actually was a tie, so every last vote counted! Thank you everyone who came out and supported us by voting!
Update: November 18th, 2011. We held a fundraising event for the film at Le Galerie Dentaire who were so gracious to provide us the space for our event. The event had live music played by local artists and was sponsored by Boris Beer . In total we estimated that there were over 80 people who came out to support us throughout the night. We raised over $1000.00 for the film, and are planning another event for January upon the return of our team. Thank you everyone who came out to drink and socialize with us!
Update: During the interim Production was busy at work finalizing documents, working on budgets, and prepping for the shoot. This included acquiring the necessary equipment needed to make the filming happen in Nepal. A lot of work went into prep, and a lot of decisions had to be discussed and made to get the production from the Cuban Hat stage to the shooting stage.
Update: December 6th, 2011. Our Research Director and Producer Julia traveled to Lisbon Portugal to partake in the In Shadow film festival where the film "One" directed by Phil and Julia is being screened! Meanwhile Director Philip and Producer Colin spent the day buying camera equipment. Due to a shipment of equipment not coming in as scheduled on Monday, Phil and Colin had to rush around and make sure that that order was duplicated in Montreal in order to make the movie.
Update: December 7th, 2011. This was a CRAZY day. Last day of Prep. Director Phil and Producer Colin were busy preparing all of the last minute details to make sure that everything was set for the trip to Nepal. The day started at 12:00 AM with a Camera test that lasted until 4AM ... That gives you an idea of the craziness of the night before! At 10AM both Colin and Phil spent the day running around Montreal buying last minute equipment and things that were necessary for the trip. At 5:30PM Colin and Phil headed to the airport and were finishing up the last minute details in the car, and in the airport terminal while eating supper before Phil went into the past security to his travel gate. A particularly important piece of audio equipment which Colin had forgotten to give to Phil had to be traveled by Canada Airlines past security to meet Phil on the other side, Major thanks to the airline workers for doing this - if they hadn't we would have had serious problems monitoring sound in Nepal! At 7:40PM EST Phil took off from Montreal and started his series of flights around the world to Kathmandu, Nepal!
Update: November 16th, 2011. WE WON THE CUBAN HAT CONTEST! Our director Philip, our research director and producer Julia, and Mitchell pitched their hearts out under the hot lights of the Cinematheque Quebecoise while producer Colin sat in the back and got as many people as possible to come vote for us. It was a lot of work, but it paid off. A major confidence booster for the team. The event actually was a tie, so every last vote counted! Thank you everyone who came out and supported us by voting!
Update: November 18th, 2011. We held a fundraising event for the film at Le Galerie Dentaire who were so gracious to provide us the space for our event. The event had live music played by local artists and was sponsored by Boris Beer . In total we estimated that there were over 80 people who came out to support us throughout the night. We raised over $1000.00 for the film, and are planning another event for January upon the return of our team. Thank you everyone who came out to drink and socialize with us!
Update: During the interim Production was busy at work finalizing documents, working on budgets, and prepping for the shoot. This included acquiring the necessary equipment needed to make the filming happen in Nepal. A lot of work went into prep, and a lot of decisions had to be discussed and made to get the production from the Cuban Hat stage to the shooting stage.
Update: December 6th, 2011. Our Research Director and Producer Julia traveled to Lisbon Portugal to partake in the In Shadow film festival where the film "One" directed by Phil and Julia is being screened! Meanwhile Director Philip and Producer Colin spent the day buying camera equipment. Due to a shipment of equipment not coming in as scheduled on Monday, Phil and Colin had to rush around and make sure that that order was duplicated in Montreal in order to make the movie.
Update: December 7th, 2011. This was a CRAZY day. Last day of Prep. Director Phil and Producer Colin were busy preparing all of the last minute details to make sure that everything was set for the trip to Nepal. The day started at 12:00 AM with a Camera test that lasted until 4AM ... That gives you an idea of the craziness of the night before! At 10AM both Colin and Phil spent the day running around Montreal buying last minute equipment and things that were necessary for the trip. At 5:30PM Colin and Phil headed to the airport and were finishing up the last minute details in the car, and in the airport terminal while eating supper before Phil went into the past security to his travel gate. A particularly important piece of audio equipment which Colin had forgotten to give to Phil had to be traveled by Canada Airlines past security to meet Phil on the other side, Major thanks to the airline workers for doing this - if they hadn't we would have had serious problems monitoring sound in Nepal! At 7:40PM EST Phil took off from Montreal and started his series of flights around the world to Kathmandu, Nepal!
Monday 14 November 2011
CUBAN HAT TOP 5
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF US!
Because of all of you, my documentary "What Happened To Esther?" is in the TOP 5 in the Caban Hat competition!
What this means is that this WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 16th, I will be pitching this project LIVE at the CINEMATEQUE QUEBECOISE for the RIDM Festival at 7PM.
...
YOU are more then welcome, in fact, invited to attend the pitch LIVE, to vote my pitch so that we can win production fund to make this documentary a reality.
If you can't attend, the pitching event will streamed live online at www.cubanhat.tv
so you can watch and support, even if you live outside Montréal.
A second round of voting will begin soon to determine the final winner. They will favor votes in person at the November 16th event so invite all your friends and family, but online voting will be open as well.
After the pitching is finished we're going to bring down the house and party with some hot beats from DJ Scott C (from The Goods). VJ Ian Cameron (from The National Parcs) will light up the screens with hot cuban themed visuals.
Together, let's make this happen!
Thank you for your support!
Because of all of you, my documentary "What Happened To Esther?" is in the TOP 5 in the Caban Hat competition!
What this means is that this WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 16th, I will be pitching this project LIVE at the CINEMATEQUE QUEBECOISE for the RIDM Festival at 7PM.
...
YOU are more then welcome, in fact, invited to attend the pitch LIVE, to vote my pitch so that we can win production fund to make this documentary a reality.
If you can't attend, the pitching event will streamed live online at www.cubanhat.tv
so you can watch and support, even if you live outside Montréal.
A second round of voting will begin soon to determine the final winner. They will favor votes in person at the November 16th event so invite all your friends and family, but online voting will be open as well.
After the pitching is finished we're going to bring down the house and party with some hot beats from DJ Scott C (from The Goods). VJ Ian Cameron (from The National Parcs) will light up the screens with hot cuban themed visuals.
Together, let's make this happen!
Thank you for your support!
Thursday 3 November 2011
"What happened to Esther?" is a feature-length
documentary about the lives of HIV+ orphans in Nepal,
told through my journey to Nepal to find Esther,
a 10 year old Nepali orphan girl who was displaced from her orphanage.
The 2010 UNAIDS Global Report, estimates, that in
2009, 64 000 people in Nepal were living with HIV. It
also stated that 1 000 000 orphans were due to AIDS
across South and South-East Asia, double the amount
since 2001. That same year, approximately 4700 adults
and children died of AIDS related deaths in Nepal. We will
look into the care and prevention that took place to maintain
her health.
It is illegal to adopt orphans from Nepal because
a lot of these children still have parents. Toddlers like Anu,
another orphan from this same orphanage, was
returned to her parents, as they sought her out after
she was kidnapped from them and ended up in the care
of this orphanage. Esther may have been told that her parents died from AIDS. Some of the children are told that theyʼre parents have died so that they believe they are orphans.
In Nepal, due to the high rate of child thefts, some of
the orphanages are simply the holding place for
children before they are sold into the sex trade. If this
becomes Estherʼs outcome, we will look into the
organizations that are put into place to facilitate and
free these children out of sex slavery, like the Umbrella Foundation, Maiti Nepal and NGN.
These are some of the possibilities to the outcome of this documentary. Please help me help Esther by voting for this documentary.
Thank you! For your support!
documentary about the lives of HIV+ orphans in Nepal,
told through my journey to Nepal to find Esther,
a 10 year old Nepali orphan girl who was displaced from her orphanage.
The 2010 UNAIDS Global Report, estimates, that in
2009, 64 000 people in Nepal were living with HIV. It
also stated that 1 000 000 orphans were due to AIDS
across South and South-East Asia, double the amount
since 2001. That same year, approximately 4700 adults
and children died of AIDS related deaths in Nepal. We will
look into the care and prevention that took place to maintain
her health.
It is illegal to adopt orphans from Nepal because
a lot of these children still have parents. Toddlers like Anu,
another orphan from this same orphanage, was
returned to her parents, as they sought her out after
she was kidnapped from them and ended up in the care
of this orphanage. Esther may have been told that her parents died from AIDS. Some of the children are told that theyʼre parents have died so that they believe they are orphans.
In Nepal, due to the high rate of child thefts, some of
the orphanages are simply the holding place for
children before they are sold into the sex trade. If this
becomes Estherʼs outcome, we will look into the
organizations that are put into place to facilitate and
free these children out of sex slavery, like the Umbrella Foundation, Maiti Nepal and NGN.
These are some of the possibilities to the outcome of this documentary. Please help me help Esther by voting for this documentary.
Thank you! For your support!
Wednesday 26 October 2011
GO VOTE!
Hey!
Go Check out http://www.cubanhat.tv/what-happened-to-esther/
And VOTE for US by clicking on "LIKE" at the bottom of the page!
More news to come!
Go Check out http://www.cubanhat.tv/what-happened-to-esther/
And VOTE for US by clicking on "LIKE" at the bottom of the page!
More news to come!
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