Social Documentary Photography and Film
Posted in Stirring The Fire on Apr 28th, 2010
“Women make change, but not in circumstances of their own choosing. They have to negotiate. They have to subvert tradition that once silenced them in order to give voice to new aspirations. . . We can use our tradition to navigate change.” Ted Talk by Kavita N. Ramdas, president and CEO of the Global Fund [...]
Posted in Production Notes, Stirring The Fire, Take Action on Mar 31st, 2010
Sometimes it is necessary to create your own opportunities for involvement in the issues that you are passionate about. Nonprofit organizations are looking for ways to get qualified intern and volunteer help. My last blog highlighted two students (Alisun Chopel and Suzy Messer) who worked toward their masters degrees while following their passion to do [...]
Posted in Stirring The Fire on Mar 24th, 2010
When One HEART decided to begin its program to address maternal mortality with the indigenous Tarahumara in Northern Mexico they contracted with Alisun Chopel to do a feasibility study for the program. Alisun was a student working on her Masters Degree in Public Health at UC Berkeley. She applied for an internship with One HEART [...]
Posted in Stirring The Fire on Mar 11th, 2010
For cross-cultural global health programs it’s critical to ensure that there is compatibility between the values of the program and the recipient culture. Since most Tarahumara women live several hours or days away from the nearest clinic or hospital they suffer one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in North America. Of course it [...]
Posted in Stirring The Fire on Feb 24th, 2010
I recently returned from the Copper Canyon located in the Sierra Tarahumara in Northern Mexico where I was documenting the work of the non-profit organization One HEART as they address the high rate of infant and maternal mortality among the indigenous Tarahumara. There are about 70,000 Tarahumara Indians—or Rarámuri—scattered throughout the Sierra living in natural shelters such as [...]
Posted in Stirring The Fire on Jan 7th, 2010
Hadia, age 11 Out-of-School Girls Program, Kabul, Afghanistan By 2000, UNICEF reported that only 4 to 5% of Afghan children were being educated at the primary school level. Fewer still had access to secondary and university-level education. According to the World Bank, “Since 2002, more than 6 million students and teachers have returned to school.” The [...]
Posted in Stirring The Fire on Dec 31st, 2009
In sub-Saharan Africa, 61% of all people living with HIV are women. Young women (15–24 years) are three to six times more likely to be infected than men in the same age group.* Unfortunately, 800,000 Zambian children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and others are left to care for themselves because their [...]
Posted in Stirring The Fire on Nov 11th, 2009
When I read in the book Half the Sky (Kristof/Wudunn, [New York: Knopf, 2009], xx-xxi) that the Joint Chiefs of Staff now consider the education of women and girls important to our military goals in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and consequently to our security here at home, it gave me hope that US military thinking has [...]
Posted in Stirring The Fire on Oct 28th, 2009
Rachel Lloyd, founder of GEMS, New York City Exploited and trafficked girls in the United States According to the Department of Justice, over 100,000 adolescents are involved in prostitution in the United States. Sgt. Fassett of the Dallas Police dept pointed out an obvious irony of this situation. “If a 45 year-old man has sex [...]
Posted in Stirring The Fire on Oct 22nd, 2009
Women Empowered has been my primary focus project for sometime now. I am currently expanding the exhibition to include multimedia profiles of a number of the women. The first that I have completed is the story of Akhi, who at the age of 13, was sold as a sex worker. She has since accomplished the [...]
