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Recent Posts
- Another Year, Another Itdyadi
- Our Truly Amazing TV Debut: Behind the Scenes
- Holi in Bangladesh Part 2: the Ruined Roll
- Holi in Bangladesh
- Hashing Out Old Dhaka
- The Blog is Back: First Impressions of Dhaka, Bangladesh
- A Few Words About My Father
- The Sky is NOT Always Blue in California
- “Artisans” documentary series – final (?) episode
- Every Day is a Surprise. Also, People are A$$h0Le5. (part 2)
Category Archives: Good Causes
Every Day is a Surprise. Also, People are A$$h0Le5. (part 2)
And so, my motorcycle was repaired, and I planned for the next day to be completely uneventful – one of those days where you catch up on tasks that have been piling up. But I was wrong. The morning was … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
Tagged adopt, amputate, cat, cruelty, human, veterinary
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Introducing Kids in Madagascar to Photography: Results (3)
This is the third in series of posts in which I write about introducing kids to photography, using point-and-shoot film cameras from the 1980s and 90s, at the youth center, Le Cameleon, in Antananarivo, Madagascar. You can find previous posts in … Continue reading
Introducing Kids in Madagascar to Photography: Results (2)
This is one of a short series of posts in which I write about introducing kids to photography, using point-and-shoot film cameras from the 1980s and 90s, at the youth center, Le Cameleon, in Antananarivo, Madagascar. You can find previous posts … Continue reading
Introducing Kids in Madagascar to Photography: Results (1)
I wrote last time about the youth center, Le Cameleon, we crowdfunded and built in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and the project we organized to introduce a half dozen interested kids to photography, using point-and-shoot film cameras from the 1980s and 90s. … Continue reading
Sharing our Passion: Kids in Madagascar Get a First Taste of Photography
A few years ago, I joined a couple of other folks with a passion for photography and an interest in doing something for the local community in Antananarivo, Madagascar. We collaborated to successfully crowdfund a small youth center that would … Continue reading
Great News: Jerome is Learning English and Coding!
Way back in 2016 when I was still new to Madagascar, Anne and I saw an online notice that a crowdfunding initiative on the eastern coast of the country was looking for a photographer and a videographer to produce a … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Madagascar
Tagged coding, crowdfunding, innovation, Madagascar, Onja
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Barefoot in the Malagasy Jungle: the Making of Onja’s Crowdfunding Video (part 3)
In the third and and final installment in this series I have written about a trip we took out to a remote village in Madagascar, to help film a crowdfunding video for a great cause, Onja. In this post I … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Madagascar
Tagged Andovolalina, charity, crowdfunding, Madagascar, Onja, remote, rural, village life
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Barefoot in the Malagasy Jungle: the Making of Onja’s Crowdfunding Video (part 2)
This is part two in a series. Part one can be viewed here. So as I noted yesterday, after our long trek into the countryside, the first order of business was to meet with the President of Andovolalina, the village … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Madagascar
Tagged Andovolalina, crowdfunding, Onja, Project Livelihood, Sam Lucas, Video Editing, village life
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Barefoot in the Malagasy Jungle: the Making of Onja’s Crowdfunding Video (part 1)
It started back in July when I got an interesting item in my “Google Alerts” for Madagascar. A small NGO was looking for a filmmaker and a social media manager to support their project in eastern Madagascar. I quickly fired … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Madagascar
Tagged Andovolalina, charity, crowdfunding, fundraising, hiking, Madagascar, Mahanoro, NGO, Onja, Project Livelihood, village life
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Anjezika: Antananarivo’s “Waterworld”
This is Anjezika. Once a vibrant fishing and rice-growing village, it has gradually been encircled and choked off by the surrounding city of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Now, nobody grows anymore rice here. A few small fish can be collected from the … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Madagascar, Zanaky Ny Lalana
Tagged Anjezika, Antananarivo, charity, children, literacy, Madagascar, poverty, school, Teach for Madagascar, Zanaky Ny Lalana
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Children of the Street: Ankorondrano
A group of about a dozen kids gathers on a small patch of green with a few benches and trees. Basically a large roundabout. Imagine an oblong Dupont Circle, except Starbucks is 3,000 miles away. The sound of traffic is … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Madagascar, Uncategorized, Zanaky Ny Lalana
Tagged Ankorondrano, Antananarivo, charity, children, literacy, Madagascar, poverty, school, Teach for Madagascar, teaching, volunteer
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Love Your Neighbor
Truth be told, we didn’t ask to come to Madagascar just for the lemurs – although they’re a pretty nice bonus. A big reason we came here because we want to try and make a difference, somewhere, in someone’s lives; … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Madagascar
Tagged Antananarivo, charity, children, crowdfunding, Love Your Neighbor, Madagascar, poverty, school assistance
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Checking in with Rocky
I recently had the opportunity to meet Rocky Braat, the subject of an amazing documentary called “Blood Brother,” winner of both the Audience and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2013. The film tells the story of a disillusioned young American … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Life in India
Tagged AIDS, Blood Brother, donations, India, orphans, project, Rocky Braat, shelter
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Baby Olive Ridley Sea Turtles
Sea turtles have been on this earth for 110 million years, compared to humans’ 200,000. If my math is correct, relating Earth’s 4.6 billion-year existence to a 24-hour clock would have seen sea turtles arriving at around 11:26 pm…and humans … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged beach, Chennai, Dharini, Olive ridley, sea turtle, Tree Foundation
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These Student-Athletes Can Use a Hand!
Those of you who know me may recall that in Windhoek, I was quite active in teaching Namibian teens to swim, and training them to compete in multisport competitions involving swimming, running, and/or cycling. The story of one of these … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes
Tagged championships, fundraiser, Indiegogo, PAY, physically active youth, triathlon
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The Best Chowkidar in the Universe
Way back in 2007, on one of my earliest tours in Afghanistan, I was responsible for writing these weekly situation reports, and I recall there was an open source report being published in the UK that I would regularly rely … Continue reading
Posted in Afghanistan, Good Causes
Tagged Afghanistan, chowkidar, fix Ibrahim, FixIbrahim
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The International Coastal Cleanup: Chennai, India
Today we joined thousands of Chennaiites in taking part in the 2013 International Coastal Cleanup. Regular readers in this blog will recognize that Chennai struggles to maintain clean beaches and waterways, like many large urban areas on the coast. It … Continue reading
Check out Namibia’s ‘Shishani’
One of Namibia’s rising young talents needs your help! Namibian musicians have a hard time “breaking out” – primarily as a result of Namibia’s small population – just over two million, around the same size as the city of Houston! … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Namibia
Tagged Indiegogo, Music for Video, Namibia, Shishani, Windhoek
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Female Entrepreneur Launches Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign for Township Bicycle Touring Company
Here in Namibia, where income disparity is one of the highest in the world (THE highest, depending on whose figures you use) and unemployment hovers around 34 percent, small entrepreneurs in both the formal and informal sector are likely to … Continue reading
Using emotion to persuade? Leave the sledgehammer out of it
I used to say in Army PSYOP that the most effective way to get inside an adversary’s decision cycle (i.e. get him to do something he wouldn’t otherwise do) is to do so in a way that your adversary doesn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged film, influence, Midway, MISO, plastic, PSYOP
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Video for a Good Cause
One of the things I’ve had the opportunity to do in Namibia is to make short videos highlighting important causes, or to show far-away donors where their money is going. A little more than half a year ago, my wife … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes
Tagged Albert's Dream, charity, informal settlement, preschool, Windhoek
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Documentary: Child Labor in Afghanistan
I wish I could say I had made this documentary on child labor in Afghanistan. This is a story that needs to be told; the circumstances in Afghanistan have led many, many children to lose any real childhood whatsoever. The … Continue reading
Namibia’s “N/a’ankuse” Needs a Filmmaker
The N/a’an ku se charity lodge, wildlife-sanctuary-and-a-whole-bunch-of-other-stuff is looking for a filmmaker. It’s not a high-paying job, but it’s a good cause and a great opportunity to hang out in Namibia and take pictures of cool stuff. The organization occupies … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged charity, filmmaker, job opportunity, N/a'an ku se, Naankuse, Namibia, opportunity, volunteer
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Conservation International: Forests and Carbon in Madagascar
This is an excellent example of what organizations are doing to protect forests. In Madagascar, forests are especially important, because something close to 80% of Madagascar’s animal life is unique, and highly adapted to very specific areas and niches in … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes
Tagged carbon, conservation international, deforestation, Haiti, Madagascar
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Hope of Good Hope gets a Sponsor
It seems that the “Home of Good Hope”, a local soup kitchen that feeds approximately 350 desperately poor children in a local township shantytown, has gotten a Dutch “gemeente” (roughly equivalent to a county) as an official sponsor. TAZM Pictures … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes
Tagged charity, Dutch, Gilze en Rijen, home of good hope, Namibia, Netherlands
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