Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Building trust to make a difference

How to tell a story about the deep impact of HIV in Tanzania? It is not an easy task, but none the less it is what the Bongodox group is trying to figure out these days. After weeks of research they have chosen three important characters/families for their film: An orphan who lost her parents to HIV, a HIV-affected family and a not affected family. Unfortunately the HIV-affected family just bailed out, but the group works hard to find another affected family, who is willing to take part in the film. We are definitely not in lack of HIV-affected families in the area, but it is troublesome to make people talk openly about their life with HIV. It is a process of building trust and making these people realize that they can make a difference by telling us their stories.

The next couple of weeks the group will follow the three families and learn the basics of filmediting. At the same time the local mucicgroup, "Kisamakibo", will be working hard on getting ready for recording the song "In the village" for our film.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Ready for the next step

The last couple of weeks the group has been doing research and interviews about HIV in the nearby HTA’s (High Transmitted Areas). The members have been on their own, getting familiar with the video cameras and meeting people in the streets and at the local bars. We have had several screenings (at our fantastic new tv!) and there is no doubt that we are ready to move on to the next step of the filmmaking process. Everybody is confident with the video cameras, so now we can go on to choose our main characters and plan the most important elements of our film. Hopefully we will be able to start recording next week.

Bongodox party
After spending my Easter at the beautiful beaches of Zanzibar with my mother, I returned to Kibisi to have a great party at the campsite for the members of Bongodox and their families. It was African slow cooking from the early afternoon, preparing delicious local dishes at the fireplace, and enough food to leave even the most hungry men full for days. Some said it was the
best meal they have had for years.
And of course, no party without dancing! As soon as people finished eating, everybody was at the dance floor. Fifty people, old and young, dancing as if this was
the most important thing in their lives. An incredible and wonderful experience!
This was definitely not the last Bongodox party.