Bridges in Guatemala

Eileen Teaches Kevin to Juggle

I looked through my pictures to try to find something that no one else might have photographed; Eileen told me later that she hadn't gone down there for that purpose.         Marty

Phil Wins the Purpose Award

The Purpose Prize provides five awards of $100,000 each to people over 60 who are taking on society’s biggest challenges. It’s for those with the passion and experience to discover new opportunities, create new programs, and make lasting change.  Phil was one of ten who won the $10,000 prize.  More on Phil's prize.

Brief video of Phil and Purpose Prize

A Closing Note from Phil

I was both excited and a bit intimated when Matt asked me if it would be possible to start a Blog around the Guatemala Mentors Workshop. I thought `what a great idea!'-- but where would I get the time?

I'm not a very fluid writer and teaching a workshop has always been such a totally immersive experience for me. So here I sit on the plane, leaving Guatemala, writing my first contribution to the blog.

Saying goodbye to the Guatemalan Students as they expressed their appreciation was a very emotional experience for me. It brought me back to my adolescence and memories of a few individuals that went out of their way to guide and inspire during a very turbulent time in my life -- Individuals I forgot to thank.

So least I make the mistake again. Let me thank all of you who have continued to guide and inspire me.

Nancy who has made such a commitment to disadvantage youth in Central America. What a portfolio of success stories!! Cindy for having the strength at her age to step outside her culture and return to give back to her contemporaries. Keith and Geoff who have put their talent, success and connections in the service of building much needed cross cultural understanding. Jeff who is listening to that still small voice that's guiding him to support children who have been dealt less than an ideal hand. Margaret, Matt and Eileen for seeking out creative ways to make corporate giving an effective win-win proposition.

Eric for taking the initiative to build Bridges in Holland and selflessly contribute to Bridges abroad.

Kate for constantly looking to implement more creative and effective ways to inspire youth—and enlisting her brilliant daughter Eilen in the task. Anne for cutting her roots in search of a new path with even more personal meaning. Marty for turning kids on to nature and making sure all our I's were dotted and T's crossed. Sara for implanting her spirit and smile on all she touched . Lee for turning me on to "The 4-Hour Work Week" Jennifer, Tania and Owen for giving their talent and time to make the dream of Bridges a reality. It was such a treat to see how well everyone worked and played with the Students.

I'm reminded once again that one of the best things about being involved with Bridges is getting to spend time with the type of people it attracts.

- Phil

Media Man Down - Marty's Trip Home

Sounds like Marty gets the prize for having the most arduous trip home and the best attitude about it:

From Marty's email:

"What happened was that on Sunday I went to the Capuchin monastery in Antigua and I banged my left foot on a stair leaving me unable to walk without a tremendous amount of pain. A nice couple who couldn't speak English helped me by getting the police to take me to the hospital. Actually, the hospital experience was kind of interesting especially since I don't speak Spanish and they don't speak English. There were people with other patients in the ER who spoke enough English to convey the problem to the medical people. They took an X-ray (although I did have to point out the blood on the table from the previous patient to the tech). An orthopedic doctor read it and, fortunately, found another doctor who spoke English to tell me that it was broken and point out the break to me. Fortunately, by the time I got done there (about 4 hours after the incident), I was able to walk slowly without too much pain. I actually went on sightseeing for 2 more days in Antigua before I left as scheduled on Wed. I went to see my regular orthopedic doctor yesterday and he verified that I had broken my trochanter on the upper part of my left hip. He said it must have been weakened and it could have broken anywhere. Oh well, I'll have alot of time to work my movie about my trip to Guatemala."

Festival Fliers Around Town

Friday morning

Jeff jumped into gear once the band was confirmed for the Film Festival.  The kids pulled the photos and Jeff worked with Warner to create the fliers.  By morning they were posted around town.

- Matt

The week in 20 seconds

The week came to a crescendo with the Saturday Evening Film Festival in the Santiago Atitlan ampitheater.

The intensity and hard work paid off.  The kids, their families, and many folks from the town seemed to have a good time.  A few shots from the week....

- Matt

The last 120 hours...

…I’ve been very fortunate to participate in some pretty amazing and unforgettable experiences. The memories that tend to stick with me, are those that illicit a pretty strong emotional response. Below are some of those memories in no particular order:

FRUSTRATED that I’ve attempted to post twice now to the blog and have failed only to have to start from the beginning. Argh! 

SCARED in a handful of circumstances: 1) during an el bano pit stop with our caravan enroute from Antigua to Posada de Santiago. As Nancy had put it, ‘we were sitting advertisements (for highway robbery), 2) for Keith while holding on for dear life in the back of an open truck to the clinic, and 3) for Jennifer, when the dog at the shelter lunged at her while she was protecting Berti (Megan’s dog)

HAPPINESS when I was finally able to communicate more effectively with the kids using Google’s online translation application. Wasn’t always accurate but you got the general gist of the message.

EXHILIRATED as we zoomed down the narrow streets of the city, in the back of the truck beds. Turned my back pack around in fear that it would get caught on something and drag me out.

ANNOYED at the myriad of ‘visitors’ to my room each evening, including the teenage tarantula that was quite pushy. Gracias Owen for escorting him out of my room. J

SURPRISED at my ability to so quickly learn how to make birds sounds with my hands clasped. Thanks to Kevin and Werner for the myriad of tips.

Eileen

WEDNESDAY – Narrative Angst

A feeling of discomfort permeates the boys' team.  Are we coming along well or headed back to the drawing board? Have we tapped into a universal theme or are we spinning in circles?

"Shooting the Holes"  After breakfast, we headed off to shoot one of the key scenes that we've been missing.

David’s dad spends a day or two a week working in the field he rents outside of town. We hike through the cemetary and over a hill to meet him in the field. The kids spent about 20 minutes photographing him working.  They're shooting his feet, face, hands, and hoe.  Some have their point-and-shoots and others are borrowing the mega-cameras from the pro's.  When the photos subside, the narration team moves in to complete the assignment.

David and his dad in his field

 

Editing -- The kids have taken more than 5,000 photos.  They've used with own cameras and their mentors cameras.  Lee and Marty have been leading the charge on importing, categorizing and editing this growing set of images.

 Lunch

Completing the Narrative – We continued to work through the story. We now have the key elements of the story of the story -- David’s mom speaking of her desire for him to lead a “dignified life” and his father’s burning desire to provide for his family. We have also the footage from the mayor’s speak which is relevant but lacks the emotional of David and his family.

Team working on the narrative

We split into two groups. I’m in the group responsible for “shooting the holes”. The other group is working with David on recording his narrative.

More Hole Shooting.  The hole shooters, of which I am one, head off to shoot David playing soccer as well as a series of shots of the hardships of being a working youth in Santiago Atitlan. These include young kids driving tuk-tuk’s, cutting meat, collecting bus tickets, and hauling wood in an effort to supplement a family income that can easily be less than $2 a day.

When in doubt, play soccer

For the first time on the trip, we came across a potential shot that we did not shoot. The two little boys hauling bloody slabs of meat were not at all excited to have their photos taken. 

Back to hotel for dinner

After dinner Dr. Phil worked his black editing magic with his favorite CS3 features in an impromptu Photoshop tutorial. Camels disappeared, bridges straightened, complexions cleared, and girls emerge from the darkness.

We closed with a Meeting of the Tribal Council.

- Matt

 

TUESDAY - Miscommunication on the water

Tuesday morning started with a jaunt across the lake to hunt for a shot of David’s mom working in a market across the lake. These shots were an important, emotional part of the movie. Unfortunately, we had a slight glitch in communication.    Only after disembarking did we learn she was in another town starting with “San” that we could see in the distance 1.5 hours across a choppy lake. Plan B. The team meandered u p the hill and covered off the obligatory interview with a Graphic Designer painting in his studio. David’s dream is to support himself as a designer.

While in town Eileen and Margaret made some small friends.

After a lunch on the dock, we returned to the hotel where the groups split up to work on their project. Geoff, Owen, and Phil worked on narration and writing. Marty tackled downloading and cataloging the thousands of images from the kids’ cameras.  I worked on the shots of the production.

In the late afternoon we convened for the Basic Photoshop Workflow. I later told Eric that I learned a few things. He shook his head slowly and with a look of pity said, “you learned something in that basic, basic, basic, basic, 30 minute class!!” Most Improved here I come.

 

disco moves on lake atitlan

CAPTION THIS PHOTO!

photo by nancy