Final Cut for CGI

Sehgal Foundation Final Video- Clinton Global Initiative Conference from UT 2009 on Vimeo.

Contribution

Contribution from UT 2009 on Vimeo.

Anjali Makhija - Director for IRRAD's Capacity Building touches on how a contribution may alter the lifestyle of the villagers.

Video by Juan Elizondo and John Fitch

seechangenow.org/2009/india

Day 20 - Governance IRRAD

Day 20 - Governance IRRAD from UT 2009 on Vimeo.

A meeting was held with Foundation leaders and delegates from surrounding villages to discuss the process of interventions the foundation has implemented. The meeting was held at the Sehgal Foundation's community center in Mewat. Anjali Makhija - Director for IRRAD's Capacity Building touches on how governance training can alter the lifestyle of the villagers.

Video by Juan Elizondo and John Fitch

seechangenow.org/2009/india

Mubina

Mubina is one of the daughters we have been documenting for the short film. Her highest level of education is that of the standard 10th grade and at the age of 18 she still has hopes of completing her education. She willing stopped going to school so that she may help with the family. Her day starts around 4am and her daily chores are milking the cows, cooking, fetching water, and other random things.

We asked her about the difference in routine between males and females of her age. She stated that most males wake up late, roam the streets and do nothing. In addition, the boys are loved more from their family. Also, her education came to a stop when asked, but males can study to whatever level they please. 

She expressed once the foundation came into the village more families are sending their children off to school and more equality between males and females is progressing. Mubina also talked about a girl who was successful with the education program the foundation has for students so that they may learn how to read and write. For example they have computer programs that teach girls how to read.

Mubina expressed that her friend was able to find a job once she completed the program. 

Mubina stressed the foundation has done many things for her family and that the community has prospered from their interventions. She stressed that their main needs are clean water, improvement of schools and better roads. From what I have witness water management is a big issue and wells have dried up. In a previous post I think I might have mention that school children lack drinking water for the entire day til they return home. 

Students of the World

Photo by Megan Peyton

From left to right starting from the top: 

Juan Elizondo - Videographer and Photographer 

Mia Avramescu - Journalist

Rachel Levi - Producer

Georgia Dealey - Journalist

John Fitch - Videographer 

Megan Peyton - Photographer and Producer

Below is a link to Students of the Worlds website SeeChaneNow.org

http://www.seechangenow.org/

You will be able to read blogs and see photos from other teams across the nation who are currently station in Africa and Asia.

Below is the link to our UT's team page.

http://www.seechangenow.org/2009/india

Missing in Action

Once again I have been missing in action for days. The good news, we are done with production! On our final day of filming  the other videographer fell ill with Delhi Belly which is when you stomach reacts different to the food here in India. Spices must have gotten the best of him and he wasn't able to film for 3 days. This is what happened to our photographer. I am so glad I am Mexican. I grew up with a father who would drown our food in salsa. He used it as a sauce rather then an "add on" to a taco. The spices here are very mild compared to my father's cooking. So as of now Georgia and I stay strong! No sickness! The next day we left for the village at 4:30 am and I did the filming alone, but had help booming from other team members. I didn't get to take photos the final day we left, but got some real good video. I filmed the mother making her daily bread which are like tortillas and filmed other daily activities the average family does. 

We also gave the family gifts such as blankets and cups for the house. For the children of the village we gave them a soccer ball, frisbees, crackers, candy, supplies for the school and much more. It was nice being able to give the children gifts, but we felt bad once there was candy wrappers scattered on the ground.

After a long stay in India, I have experienced a lot. I have done countless comparing and contrasting with my personal life in the united states  and that of my parents' roots. I haven't been to Mexico in a while and have decided I am going to live in Mexico for at least a month or two before I graduate from UT. I want to catch up with my spanish and journey back to a place where I wish I could have spent long summers with my grandparents. My older sisters got to spend summers and even came back not knowing any English. They forgot, lol. I have been thinking of taking photos and making a short documentary consisting of my family's memories about their stay in the little house in Mexico. I might not have my grandparents, but the house still stands and the memories still exist. It is time to converse them.

In addition, we found out the other day that a US man was arrested in India. He was trying to board a plane to the US with a loaded gun. Anyways, the point is that he was on the same plane when we flew into india and he had the gun as well. Yikes!

They had a photo up, but below is a link to one of the many stories on the net.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/US-national-with-loaded-gun-held-at-Chennai-airport/articleshow/4646729.cms

The past few days.

I haven't updated for a while because I have been real busy with production. Everybody except John, Georgia and I have been sick. Everybody has either overheated, thrown up or has gotten the runs. I have been taking imodium for the hell of it. Once the crew starts talking about they are feeling sick I bust out with my meds. The last thing I want to do is get sick so I have been taking it for precaution. These past few days I have been taking photos and filming, because the photographer had fell ill. Glad I can depend on John to film.

We finally got to meet the family. We have done a number of interviews for the film as well. We interviewed the leader of the village and he too thought I was indian. We have also interviewed the son and father of the family we will be documenting. Tomorrow we will be filming the daughter and mother. The family is the size of ten. They have a total of nine kids, but one has passed away from cancer. When we first met the family we didn't film, but instead sat with them so that we may get to know each other. When we asked the father if he had any questions for us. He told us he doesn't know what to ask because he doesn't know anything of the place we come from. He said he only knows about where he lives. So instead he asked what kind of work our parents did. 

When interviewing the father we found out some really sad information. For instance, before they didn't have places to use the restroom so they use to have open defecation. However, the women use to have to hold it. They were only allowed to use it in the early mornings before everyone awoke and in the late evenings so that no one may see them. However, now that the foundation has come in and  put in a number of toilets women are now able to use the restroom during the day. 

Below is a photo of one of the daughters getting a cow ready for a bath.

The father also understands that education is the key to everything. He said if people were educated there would be no war and that once people become educated they realize that war and terrorism is the not the answer. The man spoke words of wisdom, but I still found it odd that his wife was out working all day while he sat inside reading the paper and smoking his hookah.

In addition, some stats we found out from the foundation was the 1 in 3 women have some form of STD. However, the foundation is not able to find out what form of STDs are present in the community. The religion does not allow for them to be tested. Instead, the women complain about a "white discharge" and are given medication and are never heard from again. Also, women didn't protect themselves during their cycles.

Here is a little insert about the area we are documenting provided by the foundation.

"Mewat takes its name from the Meos, a Moslem peasant caste that converted from Hinduism to Islam during the 16th century. It is a district in the state of Haryana. it continues to live in a backwardness years after India's independence. The area lags behind the rest of Haryana on almost all development indicators. "

We also visited a village that is in poor condition so that we may contrast it with the Notki village in the film (which is the village our family lives). The village lacks clean water, a proper educational environment, a place for women to give birth, restrooms, clean streets and the list goes on. What amazed me the most  was the amount of trash everywhere. It was really unclean. At one point I saw the skeletal remains of an animal's jaw in the middle of a walkway as well as a number of cow droppings.

Below is a photo of a hospital the government established, but is now forgotten. 

I didn't get to film the village, only interviews. I had to take photos because the photographer fell ill. However, there was noting pleasant in this village. We didn't get what we wanted out of film and photos because the entire village was following us. For instance, every time I tired to take a photo a child will pop out in front of my camera and the same went for John. 

We got some media that will work, but we didn't get what we really wanted such as the natural environment of the village. Also, John almost fell into a well and died. We had to climb and leap on top of a well. As I went first John followed, but I landed on an area where there was much cement and as for John his feet landed right near the rim.

I didn't even look down to take this photo. I was too scared that a child may press against me and push me down the well by accident. They were pretty aggressive, I didn't let them know that I can preview photos in back of my camera as I usually do. There was too many of them.

Til next time!

:  )