The arrival of a film crew to Dodoma in March was by far the most enjoyable part of volunteering for Sunseed. Before their arrival I had drawn up a storyboard for a promotional video to demonstrate Sunseed’s work in the region. The purpose of this film is to achieve further funding for STT by presenting it to businesses in the U.K.It was non-stop work for the two weeks in which the film crew were here. And the majority of it went according to plan! We were able to film stove testing in Chamwino village, where everyone was more than happy to participate in the filming. We also got some great interviews with two local stove builders.
The Sunseed team were filmed at work in both the villages and the office. We were also able to get great footage of Justin teaching mychorizza and rocket stove theory in the classroom.
The footage taken of Sunseed’s urban project (wonderbaskets) was specifically desgined so that those women producing the baskets (the Nianjema Group) can use the same material to advertise their work.
Unfortunately on our last day of filming, due to heavy rains, we were unable to pass the river to Membe village. This was disappointing not only for ourselves, but also for the villagers there, who had gone to great lengths to organise singing and dancing, as well as more interviews. Last minute change is the nature of filming, however, and the team thought quickly on their feet. We headed back to trusty Chamwino village where everybody was extremely helpful in ensuring we got the footage that we were missing.
I would like to thank everybody who participated with such enthusiasm in the filming: the villagers, members of the Sunseed team, district forestry officer and the film crew themselves. All that is left to do now is complete the editing in the U.K. and prepare for the funding that will (hopefully) ensue.
Louise
Photo: Film crew in Dodoma
