We hope that you enjoyed the first Relief International video (that we posted last week). This is the third and final (and dare we say ‘favorite’?) of the RI videos that Barang Films produced. I think it not only captures the brilliant work and building of sustainable lives that RI is helping to foster in Haiti, but it also captures the undying spirit and positivity of the Haitian people.
Again, Barang Films would like to thank the many good souls of Relief International (Emily, Farshad, Joseph, Richard, Sony, Seth, Nikki, Emily, Daniel, Jace, etc) for the wonderful opportunity that was this project in Haiti. And we would also like to express gratitude for the generosity of the citizens of Haiti… the perspective that you have given us shall be felt deeply for a long time. And lessons that you have taught us… hopefully for a lifetime.
Three weeks ago Barang Films went to Haiti to produce some videos for Relief International. It turned out to be another brand new experience in another new country that I’ll not soon forget. And while I was only there for what amounted to be an 8-day shoot, what I saw and felt is everything that makes me love and appreciate doing this work.
People have asked me ‘How was Haiti?’ How to answer such a question? For any sort of answer that would come from my mouth would risk sounding trite. Sure, Port-au-Prince has been thoroughly devastated by January’s earthquake. Sure, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. And these are all things that I saw and felt and experienced on a moment-to-moment basis. But as seems to be customary in developing countries like Nepal, Cambodia, and Haiti, it’s the people that leave an everlasting impression and really shape my work and my opinion of the place. And really what struck me during my short time in the Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, was that while everywhere there was rubble and there were few standing structures to speak of and there were make-shift shacks that lined the garbage-strewn streets… one thing that shone above all of this was the light that seemed to beam from their smiling faces. Like the Cambodians so many miles away, who experienced a genocide that nearly wiped out its population, the Haitians amidst intense and immense destruction have somehow, miraculously found a way to live on. To have hope. To keep smiling.
Sure, there are incredibly dangerous places in the city. Kidnappings and thievery and prostitution are sadly not terribly uncommon occurrences. Water is disease-infested. People are living in tattered tents that were meant to be temporary, emergency housing, but are now becoming more permanent and slum-like.
But still there is hope. Still they keep smiling.
And its NGOs like the one that hired me to produce videos for them that are embedded in the country and helping make a difference. Relief International was one of the first to arrive during that critical emergency phase. And they have been there since, working directly with communities like La Plaine, Port au Prince, Carrefour and others, instituting programs like the Water and Sanitation Program, the Mobile Clinics and the Shelter Programs. They are working directly with and educating the Haitians to help produce sustainable results that will hopefully have lasting, positive effects on communities for years to come.
I do not say these things because I was contracted to produce videos and photography. I say this because I witnessed the brilliant work firsthand. And most importantly, I saw the gratitude and understanding on the local population’s faces. Believe me, I have done enough work in enough countries and been exposed to enough NGOs and humanitarian organizations that I feel like I have at least some sense of what is going to be truly beneficial and sustaining in a developing country. And for my money, RI is doing just that kind of work.
But don’t just take my word for it. Check out this latest video of one of the program’s that they have instituted throughout Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas:
In the next week or two, I will post more of the videos and photographs that happened while in Haiti. Until then, I say Merci bien! to Relief International and to the lovely people of Haiti who have given me the opportunity and experience of a lifetime. I will not soon forget my short time there and eagerly look to the future when I can once again set foot on this Caribbean island.
Well, I’m half-way through my fourth day of the panchakarma cleanse. On one hand much has happened. On the other, little has happened. I say much because I’ve experienced a number of interesting phenomena – including consuming some strange, new herbs, veggies, etc. – since I started this thing. Little, as in, a very small amount has come out the other end after consumption.
Let me give you an overview of my daily rituals. I wake up at 6:30 a.m. and down water that has been sitting overnight in a copper-made cup. I then evacuate. This has become my new favorite way of saying poop. I evacuate. Say it out loud right now. It’s gotta nice ring to it, no? Anyhow, my good panchakarma consultant, M. Nielsen, suggests that I evacuate immediately after downing said cup of H2O. This is generally not difficult for me as it’s already part of what I like to call my “morning routine.”
However, things have changed a bit. I’m actually not really evacuating a whole heckuva lot. In fact, it’s taking a little time to even get things going. Is this, I wonder, how my girlfriend feels whenever we go camping or take an extended trip in unfamiliar areas and she can’t, um, evacuate for days? Hmm, bit uncomfortable.
Anyhow, by Day Four, I am a little more regular (but, man, it sure doesn’t look very regular!).
I then lather myself up with a bunch of coconut oil. This stuff smells reeeally good and I’m not gonna lie, kinda feels sexy putting it on. After making love to my coconut oil, I begin making the day’s food, kichadi (see accompanying video). This process generally takes about a little over an hour with prep time included. During this time, I take a nice steamy, relaxing, hot shower. And think Good (not necessarily steamy) Happy Affirming Thoughts.
After doing a couple of shots of ghee (clarified butter) – intended to oilate my innards and help with getting rid of the toxins - I will then put a few things together for my day, drink some of my ginger and lemon tea, meditate for a bit, eat a bowl of the fresh kichadi, then head out for my day.
During the day, I am eating a bowl of the kichadi every two or so hours, drinking lots of the tea (as well as the once-mentioned water, cayenne and maple syrup concoction), and have periods of rest. I also will log (no, not that kind of “log”) all of the things that I’m experiencing throughout the day.
Example of log:
5.5.10
@ 6:50 a.m. evacuated. Very small portion, strong unfamilar scent.
@ 9:15 a.m., another evacuation. Equally small, darker brown in color.
11:15 a.m. – starting to get pretty weak, quite headachey. Core temperature a bit colder.
3- 4:30 p.m. – took nap to rid myself of headache. Before doing so, ate fourth bowl of kichadi.
Early evening I will take a 20 min walk. I did this last night and felt pretty damn wiped out. Mind you, I am a runner. It’s killing me not to run. In fact, yesterday was a gorgeous Portland day and I almost went for it. So thankful that I did not. Afterwards, when I told Miss Nielsen this, she nearly had a heart attack. I was scolded for even thinking about it. Apparently, all exercise and heavy lifting or any activity that uses muscles and makes one sweat… well, it’s a no-no during a penchakarma. I’m supposed to be loosening all toxins up, from the deep tissues out, in preparation for Day Nine (i.e. The Great Evacuation). Exercise compounds this issue and sometimes pushes the toxins deeper down.
I am such a rookie to this whole thing.
Anyhow, today, I am still feeling quite lethargic, but hopeful that soon my body will begin adjusting… and preparing for The Great Evacuation.
As many of you know, I have spent portions of the last five years in developing countries traveling and doing documentary work. The things that my body consumed (fried tarantula, pig’s feet, fried cow tongue, chicken blood, Big Macs) and the conditions in which they may or may not have been cooked I do not like to contemplate.
As some of you may know, when I first moved out to Portland, Oregon (over 13 years ago), my diet consisted mainly of McDonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell (though, thankfully, that has changed significantly!). Sometimes I mixed it up with some pizza.
Through the years, I have also taken in vast amounts of liquor, soda (pop!), candies, red meat, potato chips, carbon monoxide, gasoline fumes, recreational treats, etc. Sometimes I have been known to throw in the occasional bag of pork rinds (come on, who doesn’t love a good fried pig skin??).
I’ve struggled with hypoglycemia since I can remember. My friends and family (and myself, for that matter) have often been the poor victims of my emotional (un)well-being and just general crabbiness because I hadn’t eaten a cheeseburger, in, like two hours.
Well, I have decided that at 38 years of age, it is high time to give back to my body which I have relied upon for all these years. Time to treat it a bit better. Time to get a better grasp on how the mind and body operates and how they might both operate more efficiently.
And therefore it is time to give it the Cleanse that it so richly deserves.
So today, through the strict consultation of Melonie Nielsen, LMP, RYT, a professional who is trained in the classic school of Ayurveda, I am beginning a Panchakarma cleanse.
Panchakarma (five actions) is a cleansing and rejuvenating program for the body, mind and consciousness. It is known for its beneficial effects on overall health, wellness and self-healing.
According to Ayurveda, our natural state is one of health, happiness and an inner sense of well-being. Health is defined as the body being clear of toxins, the mind is at peace, emotions are calm and happy, wastes are efficiently eliminated and organs are functioning normally. In a busy, stressful and toxic world, our physical and mental systems accumulate toxins causing deterioration in bodily functioning. This eventually weakens our systems, which opens the door for chronic, degenerative, and non-specific diseases to develop. These can evolve into serious specific diseases, ultimately damaging an individual’s health and wellness.
Panchakarma can help by reversing these negative effects of daily living. It can restore your natural state of health and wellness by cleansing your body of toxins, bringing balance into your system and improving bodily function. It can also help you sustain this process by making positive changes in lifestyle.
My program begins today (Day One, if you will) and will run for at least the next 11 or 12 days. Oh, it’s gonna be an exciting time these next two weeks! Watch me starve (that’s today!), eat nothing but some dish called kichadi for the entire time, drink some cool ginger, lemon and cayenne libation, down some castor oil (anyone remember that story sequence from Stand By Me?) and on Day Nine basically excrete my brains out for a 24-hour period.
It will be Great Fun.
And I’m going to share it with you in the form of videos, blog entries, links, information, etc. Heck, maybe you’ll even want to do a little cleanse yourself!
Over the past couple of months I have been getting numerous requests to see footage from the film. As you know, we are headlong into the post production process of ‘J2K’. And because of this, I think there is a natural tendency to want to share some of this wonderful world with people. However, at the risk of “showing our hands”, we’re also a bit hesitant to share too much!
But I think we’ve found some Middle Ground. Today we are happy to announce the release of the first installment of Making of ‘J2K’ videos. Over the next few months there will be more to come. Enjoy!
Press Release: Date: 3.30.10 Place: Portland, Oregon USA
It is my sincere pleasure and utter gratitude to announce that the rumours that have been circulating over the past two months (or at least since the last time ‘J2K’ posted anything) are true: Barang Films now has an official production office!
Much has happened since last you heard from Herr Goat Direktor. There have been trips to the Eastern U.S. (R.I.P. Gramma Parky). A couple of weeks ago I made my commercial directorial debut (Lycra swimsuit ad!). Thanks to my favorite Porter Panther peeps (and big ‘J2K’ supporters) I’ve had loads of editing work. Translation on all ‘J2K’ footage has nearly been completed (extended thanks to Amit Aryal and all miro sathi who have given their time to this effort).
And as of two weeks ago, Barang Films now has an official home! We’re located at the corner of NE Failing and MLK Blvd. and opened up our doors two Mondays ago. Wanna see what it looks like? Well, there are two ways. Get your butt down here and say a hello (and if you don’t mind, bring a chai or chia) or check out this little video tour:
(It’s so exciting not to work from my studio apartment anymore…)
I couldn’t believe my eyes when this morning as I sat down to my coffee and emails, I was perusing the South Asia section on the BBC website and came across a particular article that was written about Nepal. More specifically, it was about a certain highway that the Chinese are constructing that will eventually wind its way through the Himalayas and connect them (via Tibet) to India. It is precisely the same area where we filmed the goat journey portion of the film!
This video footage copyright Barang Films, LLC, 2010.
Much as this writer describes, I remember getting the distinct sense of two things: (1) Not many foreigners had traveled to this extremely region of the world. (2) The landscape and life of the region was going to be changing drastically. I remember being keenly aware of this idea that I was documenting and trade and region of the world where history was actually occurring at that very moment. This road that the Chinese are building and funding had was merely beginning construction when I had visited the town of Syabrubesi during my location scouting trip in January of 2009. To see what had already been completed in 8 months time was a bit shocking. And this in geography that has barely been navigable by foot for thousands of years. Boulders the size of buildings. Trails that suddenly drop off sheer cliffs. Seasonal landslides. You name it. And yet… the Chinese have found a way to build a road.
And from my research and understanding this sort of “road building” by the Chinese has been going on for years. Now, having spent time with the large contingent of the Tamang ethnic group which are the vast majority in little hill towns like Timure and Tuman, I can tell you that the Nepalese are not as at ease as this BBC writer would have you believe. In fact, I would be remisce to say that I wasn’t disappointed that she basically suggests that the Chinese are doing Nepal a great favour by building this road. It’s not as simple as a goodwill gesture on the part of the Chinese government (as this writer might have us believe). That would be akin to (still) maintaining that the U.S. didn’t have oil in mind during the first Gulf War.
Sure, it will open up trade routes that have been vastly underused over the years. Sure, more Chinese tourists may visit Nepal and therefore be a boon to the economy. Sure, it may allow for more access to resources and/or technology for Nepal. But if you don’t think that the Chinese are also doing this in order to vastly expand their export business into a developing country like Nepal, or eventually India, then you’re not seeing the bigger picture. (And you’re most certainly not talking to the good Nepalese who live in that area.) The Chinese have been doing this “goodwill road building” for years in surrounding developing countries. It’s big money for them. BIG money. And you don’t have to look far across the border to see that they might just do what they did in Tibet, right there in the Raswa Gadhi region of Nepal. (For those who may not know, for the last decade China has been issuing financial incentives to get Chinese people to move into Tibetan villages – especially Lhasa – and start having kids and raise families. A not-so-well veiled attempt to broaden their influence, to say the very least.
Anyhow, the number of Chinese that I’ve already seen working in the Raswa Gadhi region (where the BBC article takes place) is astounding. And they have been slowly moving into Timure. And they do not mingle well with the local Nepalese who live there. It’s really fascinating to see. (And to document, for that matter!)
Another observation that I had was that the Chinese were incredibly paranoid of my camera. Unlike the reception I was given by most Nepalese, which was a warm smile and willingness to allow me to openly film their lives, the Chinese often scowled and cursed at me. And I was told that there would be big trouble if I tried to film anything that was occurring near the border (approx. 2 miles from where I was staying in Timure). I, of course, merely took this as a challenge and snuck my camera to the border. (However, if you breathe a word of this to my Mother, I will soundly deny this as false Communist propaganda.)
All political biases aside, I did want to point this article out for its timeliness and relation to the film. Even though it was a little light on journalistic standards (in my humble opinion), I thought it was super cool that someone was writing an article and covering what will amount to a side story to what I filmed in Nepal. Essentially, it would seem that we were both taking note and documenting a rapidly changing culture that may well someday be yet another part of Nepal’s fascinating history.
This week, ‘Elephant Journal‘ ran an article about the film. It’s one of my favorite question and answer sessions thus far. Below is an excerpt; you can check out the full article here:
Sometimes people come into our lives rather serendipitously. About a month ago I noticed that the apartment next to me looked a little different. A hand-painted sign that said “Journey to Kathmandu” sat outside the door next to a Buddha statue with what looked like some Southeast Asian currency in his hands. “Oh great, another Portlander that’s found themselves on a backpacking trip in Thailand,” I thought to myself in a snarky manner. I invited my neighbor over for dinner none the less; anyone that has a Buddha statue outside of their door has to have an interesting story. And he did.
Turned out that my neighbor had just returned from Nepal where he was filming a documentary. Before I met Chris Parkhurst in person, I got to see the trailer to the documentary he’s currently working on. The trailer for “Journey to Kathmandu” almost brought tears to my eyes, not because it deals with a death-defying story or a heart wrenching cause, but because in just a little over two minutes you see beauty and simplicity. Signs of a more conscious life.
Parkhurst is an inspirational filmmaker, someone who is grounded and has taken real life lessons from his travels. And even thought it’s still in production stage, the idea behind his documentary is pretty amazing and should be shared. So here’s a down to earth interview with the Director of Journey to Kathmandu.
Online magazine, ‘All Things Goat’, has recently published an article about the film. We’re excited and thankful for the press, and looking to continue spreading The Word.
‘All Things Goat’ is an ezine created by Naimhe Jeanne and Martha Ann, carnivores both who believe in the humane treatment of goats from birth through death, regardless of whether they are a pet or raised for milk, meat or fiber.
