Pencils of Promise
From January through June of 2012, I was the Digital Storyteller Fellow for Pencils of Promise. I lived for 6-week periods in Laos, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, creating multimedia documentary video for development and fundraising.
Amassing hundreds of raw videos from each country–coupled with thousands of photographs and having written several blogs–I experienced richness and humility and simplicity while living in guesthouses and offices and hotels, and among construction crews, office teams, and tourists.
Camera kit laid out on my bed in Luand Prabang, Laos, in my first week of work.
My survival kit as producer-shooter-editor (now oft-referred to as ‘Predators,’ affably) afforded me a semblance of low-visibility (as much as a non-native white ex-pat with tech gear on his back and in-hand could maintain) and ability to be nimble. I could go anywhere with this streamlined backpack setup, consisting of two dSLR cameras, a couple lenses, a basic video fluid-head tripod and monopod.
It was this unique-to-me array of gear that set the standard for all my future video projects as “one man band.”
January through February placed me in Luang Prabang, Laos. March through April had me in the mountain town of Matagalpa, Nicarauga. And from May through June, I returned to Panajachel, Guatemala to finish my international work and living experience. I returned to finish my time with Pencils of Promise from their headquarters in New York City in June.
A typical day pictured working in communities far-flung and new to me, I made sure to immerse and be as close to the members we served as possible.
Laos
Below are works produced while living and working on the ground in Laos. I lived and spent many days alongside the Mekong River, motorcycling through countryside, and documenting two weddings of two different coworkers.
🎥 Laos Office Profile
🎥 International Women’s Day
🎥 Justin Beiber 18th Birthday
📹 Leslie and Ryan Wedding Video
Children in Pha Theung walking home after school.
Writings
📝 Laos: Thoughts on Cuisine, Community, and Cleanliness
📝 About the Laos House Boat
📝 Laos Build: From Scouting and Inception To…
📝 Laos Donor Trip
Nicaragua
Below are works produced while living and working on the ground in Nicaragua.
🎥 Why Nicaragua?
📝 First Impressions of Nicaragua
Capturing footage from a workshop/meeting with the rural community in La Corneta.
Guatemala
Below are works produced while living and working on the ground in Guatemala.
🎥 Why Guatemala?
🎥 Community Profile: Cerro de Oro, Guatemala
🎥 Sophia Bush $30k for 30th Birthday
New York
These were the final deliverables for Pencils of Promise. “The Next 50” ran on primetime television(!) which was fun to experience.
🎥 Pencils of Promise White Party 2012
🎥 Pencils of Promise Next 50
Usher at the Pencils of Promise 2012 Gala Fundraiser during the live auction.
…throughout my journey…
I learned how to ride a motorcycle (automatic in Laos, manual in Guatemala), rode boats to villages around and across Lake Atitlán, ended up (somehow) on horses exploring coffee fincas, and countless chicken buses and backs of pickup trucks in order to get whatever story needed telling.
The goal was not be felt as an interloper or tourist…my desire to be as integrated in the lives and responsibilities of my new communities meant full participation, whether it was carrying 50lb bags of cement, sharing the same cuisine (except Larb Leud Ped ລາບເລືອດເປັດ, ເລືອດແປງເປັດ), and getting the same parasites, in solidarity of course.
I learned bits and pieces of Lao (mostly food and small talk) and polished my middle-school level Spanish language to get to know my peers (Yasmin and Melda pictured) and new places more wholly.
(Plus something extra…)
Filming, photographing (digital and on 35mm) Leslie and Ryan’s Laos wedding at the Shinta Mani Hotel in Luang Prabang, in exchange for a seat at the reception. Photo by Bryce Eriksen
When Leslie asked that I film her wedding in Laos, doing just what I had been doing for Pencils of Promise–”but for a wedding”–I was delighted to exercise my skills and a “love for love” in this new venue for capturing story and event.