Use your filmmaking skills to help CTC!

Hey campers-

The Chase Bank Community Giving Challenge is happening on Facebook, and there's $250,000 at stake for the non-profit that gets the most votes...

Think we can win?

You bet. But we need YOUR help.

1. Log in to your Facebook account
2. Hit this link which will take you to our Chase Community Giving Page. If it doesn't take you to the our page, be sure to 'Like' Chase Community Giving to enable your vote, and then search for 'CTC International' which will take you to our page.
3. Click the Green voting button in the upper right
4. Share it with your friends.

What's the best way to spread the word? Make a video.

Grab your webcam, video camera, or animate yourself at dvolver.com Make your own awesome, silly, serious, funny, heartbreaking, or otherwise amazing video telling people how they can vote too.

It's fun.
It's easy.
You know you want to.

Production Schedule Update

So, we hit our kickstarter goal and then some. Many thanks to our generous backers who helped raise almost $13,000! Amazing!

We also wanted to let you all know about an update to our production schedule. After much careful thought and discussion, we have decided to push our trip to Kenya back until the Fall. We came to this decision for several reasons:

First off, due to World Cup, tickets to anywhere in Africa are at a premium this summer, and so we felt it would be a more responsible use of the funds if we pushed the date back in order to save money on airfare.

Secondly, CTC is sending 6 teams of volunteers to Maai Mahiu from May-August to work on various projects. These volunteer teams are the lifeblood of CTC, and we felt it could potentially hinder the focus of our efforts and theirs if we were working in many of the same places at the same time and sharing many of the same resources. This way, they will be completely focused on their work, and we can be completely focused on ours.

Thirdly, you can never have enough time for pre-production, and so the extra time before will afford us that much more strategizing and preparation so that we can make the most out of our time there.

Rest assured that the project is still moving forward, and in fact, its shaping up to be even bigger and better than we expected. We had an amazing fundraiser in Los Angeles recently, and the enthusiasm from our kickstater backers and everyone else who is supporting the film is building every day. We are taking your interest and investment in the film extremely seriously, and we wanted to keep you all in the loop about the production schedule. If you have any questions, by all means, contact us at info@ctcinternational.org.

Thank you so much for your support!

-Zane and Aaron

Alice and Mike

For all the Malaika Mums, their time in the program has been transformational. Alice has been no exception. Her story was particularly powerful. She told us of the hardships she faced with her son, Mike, who is both physically and developmentally disabled.

As it became apparent that Mike was not like her other children, she told us her husband started 'going out.'

Because of Mike's disability, she said he stopped coming home, sometimes for 6-8 months at a time. He felt it was her fault that they had a disabled child, and that is what drove him away. It is not uncommon for a husband to leave after discovering he has a child like Mike. He distances himself from his 'cursed' family.

And so Alice was left to handle Mike alone. He could not attend regular school because the teachers cannot care for children like him, and at five years old, he was still unable to walk, so he was often left at home alone while Alice went out to find food for the family. She did not want it to be this way, but she felt she had no choice.




Many mothers of disabled children leave them at home unattended while they go out to provide for the family. It is a burden on them not only in the physical sense of carrying a child who cannot walk, for example, but even moreso in the emotional sense of facing the stares and whispers of the community that does not understand or accept their child.

But she persevered, and along the way, she eventually became a part of the Malaika Mums and Mike, became a Malaika Kid. Nowadays Alice is the chairwoman of the Malaika Mums. She is their spokesperson and advocate, but her goals go beyond just sewing...

Her passion is singing, and she hopes one day to record an album. We can only hope that her singing voice will be as strong and inspirational as the voice she has found as a loving mother.

Josephine and Abby

In the first week of my visit to Maai Mahiu, there was a birthday party at the CTC office, and it was there that Josephine earned her nickname: Mama Cake.



She ate like 6 or 7 pieces.

It was pretty amazing.

I have a whole set of sweet teeth, but I'm not sure even I could handle 7 pieces of cake.

When Zane called her out, she just laughed and proudly accepted her new nickname.

In Kenya, and in many places in the world, a mother is often referred to by the name(s) of her children. My mom, would be known as Mama Aaron. Josephine is Mama Abby.



As you can see, Abby is almost impossibly photogenic. Although shy at times, she loves having her picture taken and has no problem showing tremendous affection once she gets to know you. She is also very smart...she is learning to read and write, and I'm sure will one day realize the benefits of having an education. And as you can tell from the photo, she is a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. Or at least she will be...someday.

Abby is a perfectly normal child, except that she was born without her left arm. She was not allowed at regular school because of this. When she was born, Josephine had never heard of a child born with a deformity, and she had no idea what to do.

Josephine faced ridicule and abuse from her husband's family, and felt the social stigma associated with being the parent of an 'outcast'. But one day, a neighbor told her about a group of people with disabilities that met in a church in Maai Mahiu.

She went, hoping that she would find some support for her and her child.

And what she found was a path to an education for her child at Malaika Kids, and a new skill and an income as a Malaika Mum. She now wants to take her skill and teach others how to sew.

Personally, I would have guessed her future plans involved baking... ;)

Our film, The Freedom to Be, will tell the stories of women like Grace, who are raising disabled children like Joyce in a culture that barely acknowledges their existence. Please consider donating to help us finish making this film. We hit our goal of $9,000 to cover our travel expenses, but our total budget is much much higher. We've got 13 days to go. You think we can hit $20,000? I'm sure you guys can do it.

Hit this link.
Watch the video.
Pass it on.

Cheers,
Aaron

Grace and Joyce

Grace and Joyce.

Of all the Malaika Mums, Grace is definitely the most soft-spoken. She doesn't talk very much and when she does, her voice is hushed. When all of the other mums are chattering back and forth in the sewing room, Grace is often silently working at her machine. But every now and then, you'll catch her smiling and laughing with the women. She has a great smile. An adorable gap-toothed smile.

She lives near the main market square in Maai Mahiu in a one-room apartment with part of a coca-cola sign over her front door. Like most of the houses the mums live in, the open window is the only light source, but the light is soft and beautiful to photograph.

She's a single mother right now. Her former husband left, and she raises Joyce on her own. She's thought about finding a new husband, but the impression that I got was that a new husband would just be a different kind of burden for her, so I don't think she's in a hurry.

Joyce is her daughter, and one of the Malaika Kids. She doesn't have an official diagnosis, but she can speak a little. However, the majority of her speech is repetitive vocalizations. Ba ba ba ba ba is her favorite sentence. Joyce might be a sheep?

Joyce is fascinated by cameras.

Fascinated.

It's practically impossible to shoot when she's in the room. She grabs the LCD, trying to see which one of her friends in the room somehow showed up in the little screen too. And the buttons. She wants to push all the buttons and turn the wheels. One afternoon while I was sitting with the kids, Joyce managed to alter the settings on my camera and it took me forever to figure out why all my images were overexposed...

Our film, The Freedom to Be, will tell the stories of women like Grace, who are raising disabled children like Joyce in a culture that barely acknowledges their existence. Please consider donating to help us finish making this film. We hit our goal of $9,000 to cover our travel expenses, but our total budget is much much higher. We've got 20 days to go. You think we can hit $20,000? I'm sure you guys can do it.

Hit this link.
Watch the video.
Pass it on.

All the best,

Aaron

Esther and Kongo

Esther's story is unique among the Malaika Mums, but unfortunately, not unique to many of the people of Kenya...She is an IDP, an Internally Displaced Person, forced to find a new home after the election violence in 2008.



A little background: In late 2007, there was a highly contested presidential election that resulted in widespread protests and violence. It is estimated that the conflicts, which largely fell along tribal lines, resulted in over 1,000 deaths and up to 250,000 people displaced from their homes.

Esther was one of those people. Esther and her family were displaced twice, first from their home in Maasailand after regional tribal clashes, and then again from her home near Narok after the election violence. Her home and all of her few possessions were burned, and her husband was injured helping them escape.

She asked God what had she done to deserve this? But despite her questioning, she was thankful that her family was safe, including her disabled son, Kongo.



Early on in his life, Kongo was left at home all day as his mother and father went out to work and buy food. He is yet another child without a diagnosis, but it is clear that he is severely impaired mentally and physically. He makes lots of repetitive movements and rocking motions, and though he can't speak, he vocalizes, making chattering sounds.

Before Malaika Kids, Esther told us he didn't like people, and he never smiled or showed excitement. His first day at Malaika Kids, Esther brought him in his wheelchair. But after receiving physical therapy from his caretakers at Malaika Kids, he is now able to walk with assistance. He has also become much more open to people, and he often laughs and bounces around with a smile on his face. One day, Esther hopes that Kongo will be able to write and walk by himself.

He's well on his way...

Florence and Ruth

Before I left her house after our interview, Florence asked if I had a wife.

I laughed and I told her no, I did not have a wife. She told me that she would find me a good wife from her tribe, the Akamba people of Kenya. A Kamba woman, she told me, would stay and take good care of me.

We laughed, but I think she was not entirely joking.

Sadly, many of the men in Maai Mahiu are not living up to their responsibilities as husbands and fathers. Few have jobs. Many are abusive. There is a tragic void of positive male role models in Maai Mahiu.

When I first arrived in her home, one of the first things she did was show us photos of her and her husband. From the photos, you would think they were happily married.

Her husband is an unemployed artist who spends most of his money on alcohol. He's rarely home. Fortunately for her four children, she earns money as a seamstress in the Malaika Mums program. But when we asked her about it, she told us that her husband doesn't know.

He believes the money she earns comes from her family. She doesn't want him to know that she is earning her own money because she believes he will leave her if he thinks she's financially independent. On one hand, she might actually be better off if he left, but on the other hand, she has her hands full with 4 children and what little help he provides is welcome.

Ruth, her daughter, up until a year ago was unable to walk. She was born with a condition in her hips and knees that prevented her from walking. Public schools would not accept her. Since she was unstable on her legs, she would not be able to use the toilets, which are basically holes in the ground, and they were afraid she would fall in. So she stayed at home, until Malaika Kids...

In addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, Ruth has been receiving physical therapy. When I first met her, I just knew Ruth as the adorable Malaika Kid who couldn't walk. So you can imagine how excited I was when she took off walking around the courtyard in front of my camera...