volunteering

I've been volunteering for about two weeks now. The juice fasting program at the hospital is on a bit of hiatus right now as Tom is doing some more research. Also soon there should be a similar program set up in Baguio (another town 6 hours away) and maybe eventually a couple of other hospitals in the Philippines. The program has run in Sagada for a year and it seems like many people in the town have tried it. As well people come from neighbouring towns and even abroad to participate. It has had success treating all sorts ailments including those with terminal cancer (however it has yet to be determined how effective it is in the long term.)

Sagada Hospital where I'm volunteering

The plan is to shoot a video, edit it (that's what I'm doing), and send it to networks in the Philippines, and other news networks in Asia. According to Tom it's a public relation dream here because most networks are so desperate for anything that if you give them a video they will run it. He has working with a network in the Philippines before and has a contact in India who owns a major network. Also the video will be posted on his website www.fasting.ws and YouTube.

For the first couple days you could say I participate in story meetings. Tom, the videographer, David, and I discussed some of the issues: who the target audience is, an Asia market so English is not their first language; where to shoot, mostly outside using the scenery of Sagada; lighting which are still be worked out after one day of shooting, the sun is really bright in the mountains; and how to make a video about fasting interesting. These discussions took place while Tom and David tore down a kitchen ceiling.

I have edited some b-roll of scenes in Sagada that was shot before I arrived. I have helped with some of the research for the video. I had gone to Baguio to renew my visa and while I was there I picked up some supplies that could refract the sunlight. There's only so much you can by in Sagada. I still have work to do put most of the project is on hold until the lighting is sorted out. Everyone else involved in the project is working on renovations around Tom's house.

Only 3 more weeks until I'm home.