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 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 Take Action on Dec 2nd, 2009
In 2002 National Geographic conducted a survey accessing the geographic literacy of 18 to 24 year olds in 9 industrialized countries. The United States came in next to last—85% could not find Afghanistan on a map; 56% could not find India and 30% could not find the Pacific Ocean. Last year less than 1% of [...]
Posted in Take Action on Nov 18th, 2009
“Donor Illusion” is a currently a hot debate. In my work I have had the opportunity to see many of the issues women face in the developing world up close and personal. I realize that many people that want to help women and girls have not had a face to face encounter with those they [...]
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 [...]