You want a picture of me?!

As resident videographer and general “camera” person at Warm Heart since March, I have found myself in many an interesting situation, usually surrounded by unique and inspiring people. This is what attracted me to video, photography and, in fact, travelling in the first place. Discovering the people, places and cultures of the world and uncovering the stories they have to tell will never get old for me.

My experience so far at Warm Heart has been as challenging as it has been rewarding. As I’ve experienced with other small non-profits that have big ideas and limited resources, you really have to be a proactive volunteer to make your time worthwhile. Everyone’s busy so you’re not helping anyone if you sit in a corner waiting to be told what to do. So I had to ram my assertive hat onto my head when I arrived, albeit begrudgingly. It took me about a week to stop tiptoeing around all the busy people in the office and start asking how I could be useful. But the rewards reaped were immediate. I have now completed two videos, have two more almost done, and a further two in the pipeline. Not to mention all the photography projects I’ve been involved in. It’s not an exaggeration to say I have had a new experience or learned a new skill every day of my time here. 

Once word got out that I had a camera and an interest in photography the requests came in thick and fast. I have attended graduation ceremonies, New Year blessings, Hill tribe visits, school openings, summer camps, fashion shoots and more, all from behind the lens of my trusty camera. At first I found being the designated photographer at events pretty stressful, still being in the learning stage of photography and worrying that I might miss certain vital moments. But it certainly made my skills and confidence improve the more I did it.

Village chief's daughters at a new hill tribe school called Little Smiles Centre

Grumpy monkey

The fashion shoot for micro-enterprise was another first for me, taking pictures of the new products for the eagle-eyed manager Josephine. Luckily for me I was teamed up with the equally eagle-eyed marketing volunteer Nara who set up the shoots and inspected the products and photographs stringently. Luckily passed the test. Phew! The photos are now published on the online shop. Thanks Nara, you rock.

Bracelet for sale at www.discovered.us

Apple in action making laptop cases out of old rice sacks

One of Britta's bracelet in a fashion shoot

When travelling I find photography a great way to interact with people you might normally be too shy to approach. The best part of the whole thing is showing an eager kid or a bemused elder their own face peering out from my camera screen and seeing the look of (usually) pleasure they get from my simple desire to photograph them. “You want a picture of me?!” Thanks to Warm Heart I’ve had access to photograph aspects of Thai society I may never have been privy to as a mere tourist.

While filming corn pickers for an environment
video we bonded over laughter and their bemusement atme wanting to film them

A visit to the hill tribes was particularly poignant. Nestled in the hills amidst coffee plantations and bamboo forests most of the Hill tribe villages can only be reached by terrible (at times impassable) dirt roads. Life is isolated and basic. People generally survive hand to mouth, with farming and manual labour the main source of income. Despite the hardships the sense of community is strong and it was clear that the Warm Heart kids (or at least the ones I was with) still have very strong ties with their respective villages. Photographing the hill tribes was definitely a highlight of my stint here and the smiles I captured say it all about the spirit and energy of the people living there.

Joy

Girls love to pose

Strike a pose, Asia style!

Another memorable event was my first ever Thai Boxing match, and an entirely local one at that, which made it all the more special. The temple down the road from us was putting on a fundraiser complete with live music, bouncy castles and, incongruously for pacifist Buddhist monks, a Muay Thai boxing ring! I stood out like a sore thumb of course but I surprised myself at how much I enjoyed it, awed by the level of skill and discipline required. I’ve now actually started learning the sport myself!

In terms of videos, I’ve had my work cut out. On day one, while the rest of the video team were in Laos on a visa run, I was tasked with making an orientation video for new volunteers, to give them a realistic view of where they will be working and living (spiders, geckos and all!).  This doubled up as my orientation tour from Volunteer Coordinator Sahara so I was quickly au fait with the lifestyle and inner workings of Warm Heart. 

Warm Heart kids and some children from the neighbouring village enjoying
the English Summer Camp immensely

Next up was a project close to Founder and Director Michael’s heart – Project Biochar. I’m sure many of you are wondering what this is (as I did only a few months ago) and you will soon be enlightened by the near complete video. But in short, it’s an environmentally friendly method of burning the millions of tons of agricultural waste left over from harvest every year that is usually burned in open fields by the farmers, at great environmental and health cost to the locals and the planet. Biochar not only reduces smoke and greenhouse gas emissions considerably but also creates an organic fertiliser that can be used on the fields. Sounds like a win win situation huh? We think so too.  

The challenge with this video was whittling the overwhelming amount of facts and statistics down into digestible laymen’s chunks. Which involved many a hair-pulling brainstorming session with my team mate Nara (again, thanks!)

Soon after my arrival we had a visit from the German designer Britta Von Wedel, who works with Warm Heart’s micro-enterprise project, creating beautiful bracelets made by local women, and sold internationally.  Since she was only visiting for a week we were on a strict time schedule to create our “Sponsor a Design” video, which can be seen here. It was fantastic experience in efficient use of time, pre-planning shoots and editing on the fly in order to get all the content we needed in the short time Britta was here. What could have been a stressful experience was actually made enjoyable and feasible thanks again to Nara’s help and Britta’s amazing cooperation and unflusterable on-camera presence.

Britta and Apple discuss bracelet designs

Bracelet makers working hard

I am also currently working on two more videos for the new website – a light-hearted one about “Volunteer Life ” and a more sobering one about Warm Heart’s program for the elderly and disabled of Phrao – “Project Access”. Keep an eye out, they’re coming soon!

Songkran kicks off with water splashings and blessings

Blessings for Songkran