Firefly Imageworks

Being that I do a lot of work with bands shooting live photography, and ever since I picked up Canon’s 5D MkII DSLR, I’ve been trying to think through how I can blend still photography with these new fangled HD video capabilities I’m carrying around. The goal being to still shoot amazing live photos but simultaneously produce a video product that’s would be worth something to the musician.

Last night, I finally was able to put all of my year of tinkering and problem solving to the test when Offering played a small show at Café Caturra. Fortunately I was given the flexibility to try something a little new, so away i went.

If I have any personal critiques it would be that on occasion the camera shakes a little more than i’d like, and had I talked with the sound guy I could have potentially plugged directly into the sound board to record even better quality audio. From here on out, those issues will be resolved.

That said, since I now have the technique down, I’ll be offering this service as a package option. So if you’re a band looking for stunning live photography and could also use a particularly awesome live music video shot in full 1080p HD quality, this is exactly what you’re looking for. Contact us for pricing and we’ll get the ball rolling. Oh, and below are a few still shots from the show too. Enjoy!

Education is key.

If you haven’t caught up thus far, I encourage you to read the three previous entries to this (The Masai and the Mara, Kenyan Life and Infrastructure, and The Girls of Mudzini Kwetu) for context.

Oh, you’re already caught up? Awesome. Then you know all about the work that the Kenyan orphanage, Mudzini Kwetu, is doing to combat the cycles of poverty that exist in Kenya today. This orphanage for girls houses thirty-four of the brightest, most beautiful young ladies and sees to the care and education of each and every one of them; filling their lives with love, support, a family structure, and the tools needed to transform Kenya for the better.

Yea, I know, I slid a recap in there anyway.

That said, Anthony Molungo and those running Mudzini Kwetu can’t do it alone. Funding comes from a variety of international sources, and most notably here in the US, One Home Many Hopes (OHMH) is the front-line. Due to the contributions they’ve managed to amass, construction on a four-story dormitory began and will be finished this year, allowing for Mudzini to go from housing just the thirty-four current girls to many many more desperately in need of a home and brimming with potential for greatness.

I was introduced to OHMH via my friend Graham Marley, a photographer in the Boston, MA area. He attended a local fundraiser there, and when the need for fundraising collaterals (video and photo alike) came up, he volunteered his time and camera and asked me if I’d be interested in coming along for the journey as well. These entries and photos are a sample of the resulting adventure – at least my take on it.

Raising Funds

It wasn’t long after I came on board, that I was attending a fundraiser in Washington DC where I met Thomas Keown, the hilarious, compassionate, and downright inspiring face of OHMH’s operations here in America. He tells his tale of being transformed from a self-centered world-traveler into a staunch advocate for an orphanage far better than I could. It’s another inspiring and moving tale of beauty blossoming from devastation, but I think I’d prefer leave that to him to describe to you with the hope that you’ll dig deep enough to find it. You won’t be disappointed.

But that’s the theme with all of this: beauty blossoming from devastation. With every young life Mudzini touches, that’s exactly what happens. Each girl’s smile is a testament to it, and I couldn’t be happier to call them family.

Things are just beginning however. In the next year, OHMH will be pushing hard to raise funds to build a school that will be run and operated by Mudzini. The girls currently attend a private school, but as Anthony and anyone who visits knows, even the private education in Kenya leaves far too much to be desired. By building a school, Mudzini can not only save on tuition fees, but they can use that added money to hire the absolute best teachers. Additionally, they can take in and educate more children from the surrounding area than just the girls at Mudzini – free of any charges for books or uniforms – finally breaking down the financial barriers so many children face. It’s an enormous step in the direction toward ending the cycles of poverty in the region.

But – and here’s the sales pitch – this all requires the help of people like you. Even the tiniest of contributions can go so far. I’m not going to lay on the hard sell here. If you’ve read this far you know the story, and I hope it’s been at least a little touching and inspirational. I hope it’s easy to see how what’s happening isn’t just a small bandage on a bigger problem; it’s a systemic solution that holds great potential for many future generations. To give to this cause, is to give to something that will effect the lives of not just the children Mudzini Kwetu touches, but the lives of their children and their children’s children as well. it’s a donation that will pay dividends in the lives of countless people over time.

Hm… maybe that was the hard sell? Sorry about that.

So yea, that’s my Kenya trip in a nut-shell (or four nut-shells I suppose). It won’t be the last time I visit. For now though, I hope you enjoyed hearing about what i was up to over there. Please feel free to let me know if you have ANY questions at all. For now though, head over to OHMH’s website and read on: http://www.onehomemanyhopes.org/

This is part four of a four part series. Click a link below to visit another entry:
Part 1: The Masai and the Mara | Part 2: Kenyan Life and Infrastructure | Part 3: The Girls of Mudzini Kwetu

J.

During my month in coastal Kenya, not only did I see much of the country, it’s breathtaking beauty, and it’s heartbreaking depravity, but I also was blessed to be able to stay at an orphanage called Mudzini Kwetu (meaning ‘Our Home’ in Swahili). Mudzini was founded ten years ago by a man named Anthony Mulongo who worked for International Justice Mission in Nairobi. He was a young guy in his twenties, but he had begun to understand the the extent of poverty within his country and the systems that perpetuated it. He was especially effected by what it did to children and seeing education as the means to end the cycle these families were in, began to pay the school feels for some children he knew. Not long after however, he became even more involved and took in a young six year old named Gift. Gift had been orphaned, relying on a grandmother who also cared for multiple other children and it had become too much for an older woman living in the slums. Soon after, Anthony began to feel called to start an orphanage, particularly in the coastal region where prostitution had become such a widely accepted solution to day to day survival: coastal Kenya, north of Mombassa.

Ten years later, Mudzini Kwetu cares after thirty-four girls from one to seventeen years old (with two toddler-aged boys in the midst as well). Many are orphans who had lost their parents and had nowhere else to turn. A precious few of the girls have parents that have been employed by Mudzini as house-mothers or filling other roles. Some were removed from horrendous, violent situations.

Sunrise Over the Indian Ocean

The specific stories of the places they came from are tragic. One girl was was paid for via dowry at age six and after years of living under an oppressive husband who wouldn’t allow her access to much of anything. One was raped at two months of age and spent her first year being haunted by the nightmares she incurred from it. Another lived on the street caring for her sister until they were found. Another is an infant found in the middle of the road, left there to be run over by a car by parents that didn’t want her.

The tales are many, but in Mudzini they have found hope and a family. Speaking with Gift you get a sense of the thankfulness and happiness these girls now have. She refers to each and every one of them as sisters, and they all operate just like that: a close knit family unit. Anthony is now Uncle Anthony to all of them. Each of the house-mothers are ‘Momma’. The staff has not only groundskeepers, but also a social worker, psychiatrist, and lawyer, and all carry the title of ‘Auntie’ or ‘Uncle’.

This carries over to those who come to visit as well, and after just a few weeks the feeling of inclusion in a family is palpable. At first I was a little put-off about being woke up at 5:30am to the tune of ten or fifteen small voices calling, “Uncle DJ!” through my mosquito-net-lined window. Now I can’t help but smile at the thought. These girls are some of the most amazingly beautiful, thoughtful, encouraging, caring, and courageous people I’ve ever met, and to be considered a member of their family is enormously humbling; a tremendous honor.

Annette and Hoffman

It’s through this vision of an orphanage that not only are these girls’ lives transformed and beauty is birthed from the devastating, but the same can be said for the Kenyan communities they’ll eventually become a part of, and bit by bit, the nation itself. Just as it was when it began, Mudzini’s goal is to break the systems that perpetuate poverty within the country, person by person. The girls are raised within a supportive, loving, and large family unit obviously, but also their schooling is taken care of via attendance at a local Private School – a far better institution than the public schooling is obviously. Internal competition and pressure to excel exists amongst the girls, and the results are a group of some of the most promising young minds in all of Kenya. By providing a home and education to those in the most need, Mudzini Kwetu is ending the cycle of poverty, and giving the tools to change their country for the better.

The story is just beginning however, and the ambitions are great. While I was there, I found that that’d ceased accepting new girls until construction on a new four-story dormitory could be completed. Once finished, Mudzini will be able to accommodate close to ten times as many girls as they have currently. The dorm, as well as much of the operational cost, is the result of a steady stream of international contributions. Most notably here in the United States, One Home Many Hopes (OHMH) is the group telling the story of Medzini Kwetu and drumming up support for the cause. In the next entry, I’ll talk more about OHMH, Mudzini’s future ambitions, and – yep – how you can help too if you’re in the mood to be a bit hospitable. Stay tuned!

Village Children

First off, sorry I didn’t follow up right away like I wanted to. Getting back into the swing of things has been more arduous than I thought it would be. That said, and without further ado, the life and infrastructure of Kenya…

From what I saw, it’s rough living in Kenya. There’s very little in terms of societal infrastructure that’s trustworthy, static, or reliable. While a standard of living that many of us would consider pretty basic can be found in the bustling urban areas, they’re usually sparse and really only reserved for the richest of the rich in the country.

For the rest of the tens of millions of residents, water is hard to come by, the average annual income barely breaks $1,000, electricity is unreliable (when available at all), waste management is a burning pile of trash on the side of the road, and the education system is really that in name only. It’s a tough life for most Kenyan families, having to choose if it’s preferable to pay for the uniforms and books for your kids potential education or to use that money to feed your family. More than often, they’re forced to side with daily survival.

In coastal Kenya where I stayed, I came to find that prostitution was a regular way of life and financial survival for many younger residents; not because they want to, but simply because they have to. In much of Europe, that area is regarded as the place people can go to get what they can’t get at home. Upon a quick sampling of the nightlife, seening an older european man with his arm around a 14-year-old girl is sadly a regular occurance.

In most societies, the way to lifting up the standard of living generation to generation is through education, and Kenya offers its residents free public schooling. However, the aforementioned costs of books and uniforms, keeps many of the children at home. If the decision to send the kids to school is made however, the situation isn’t much better. The public school I visited, had teachers that would be in charge of multiple classes of 80+ students – traveling back and forth between each classroom to give a new assignment and move on. This school had over 1,000 students, and gets by on a budget of barely $400 a year. With numbers like these, an education that actually uplifts and makes better citizens out of the next generation is a near impossibility.

Palm Sunday Parade

When it comes to the government officials that are meant to aid in this, local residents will tell you they’re main goal (as with many politicians) is self-preservation – not the well being of the country. My friend, Anthony Mulongo – founder of the orphanage I stayed at, Mudzini Kwetu – puts it frankly: when you deny people adequate education, a public can be easily controlled and manipulated to do whatever you want. The education system in Kenya is an intentional sham and exists to make people think they have access to it, but it’s never funded so much that it might be effective. This keeps the public in line and re-electing the same corrupt leaders over and over.

And the corruption proliferates throughout the government. It’s widely known that you can bribe your way out of any legal trouble you may face, and the jailing system is such that – even if you’re innocent – bribery is the only way you’ll last for very long. Many prisoners die in the first few days of jailing and before any trial comes along. As a result, it’s not unheard of for the police to arrest you sheerly to get money from you. It’s not uncommon for a Kenyan prostitute to persuade a European man to marry them, have them buy a house, wait for their visa to expire, tell the police, and for both the cops and the prostitute to share the resulting bribe money. It’s not uncommon for the cops to then arrest the prostitute they’re in league with just to get even more money. It’s a devastating and twisted system.

So, like I said, I stayed at an orphanage. A truly remarkable one at that, and that’s where the beauty within this dark blog entry will come in. While it’s not a broad sweeping wave of change to all of Kenya, it most certainly is a light in a very dark place, and I can’t wait to share more about it with you. It’s the hope in the depravity that is needed, so check back on the next entry to hear more about Mudzini, it’s mission, and what it’s doing to combat the overall systems of economic and systemic oppression.

This is part two of a four part series. Click a link below to visit another entry:
Part 1: The Masai and the Mara | Part 3: The Girls of Mudzini Kwetu | Part 4: One Home. Many Hopes.