Workshops with plenty of talent

The Bongodox group is finally a fact! At first I want to assure you that it wasn’t at all an easy task to choose the nine people, who are now joining the team. For a short while I felt like the evil judge in a talent audition, leaving some people disappointed and sad. But hopefully this project is only the beginning of future video experiences at Bongo Camping.

Saturday morning was something special. To wake up and realize that what I had been dreaming of and waiting for was now coming true. I was pretty nervous since until now Bongodox had only been ideas on paper and I suddenly had my doubts – Is this really going to work? Everything was ready and even the weather was perfect. As the members arrived to the campsite one by one I realized that there was no need to be nervous. The nine members were full of curiosity and enthusiasm and more than ready to make it work.

So far the program has been about introduction, exchanging ideas about HIV/AIDS and filmmaking and of course the first hands on the video cameras. The teaching part is a huge challenge for me, but it’s even more challenging to use a mixture of English, Swahili and an unknown kind of sign language. Surprisingly enough the members seem to get my points and all I have to do to see nine smiling faces in the classroom is to hand out the video cameras with the simple message: Try! And one thing is for sure, I don’t need to worry about if we are in lack of creativity or visual skillsamong the members. There is plenty of talent, and I can't wait to go on.