Tag Archives: travel

Back from Trinidad!

12 Aug

I had a productive and enjoyable visit to Trinidad and Tobago.

I interviewed a recipient of the OAS scholarship (my main reason for the visit), a professor of communications at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT).  I also did some interviewed for another OAS video from a different department.  These interviewees were teachers who are a part of the Interamerican Teacher Educator Network, an OAS initiative to connect teachers across the Americas and the Caribbean.

One of the teachers that I interviewed actually offered to show me some sites around that area of the country and get some local food.  I got to see a lot more of the country than I thought I would be able in my short visit.

I sampled coconut water (which you drink from a straw straight out of a young coconut).  I also tried the national beer, “Carib.”

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Off to Trinidad!

3 Aug

I’m leaving tonight for Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. I am working on the Organization of American States on a video to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the OAS scholarship program. The video will mostly consist of interviews with former recipients of the scholarship.

My main assignment is will be interviewing the Director of the University of Trinidad and Tobago, a former recipient of the OAS scholarship. Since most of my filming will take place only in one day, the OAS asked if I’d like to stay in Trinidad for a couple of extra days (paying for my own food and hotel after Day 2 in Trinidad) since they are arranging the flights for me. I took them up on it since I’ve never been to Trinidad before, so I will be there for a week.

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Off to Colombia!

2 Jul

I’m leaving the States again this weekend, this time for Colombia.   I will be there for all of next week.

I’m mostly staying in the capital city of Bogota where my organization, the Pan American Development Foundation has an office.

I will be filming several projects in Colombia, but the main one is conducting a video interview of one of the 2010 recipients of PADF’s Heroes of the Hemisphere awards.  The Colombian “hero” works to preserve the indigenous Guambiano people of Misak by initiating profitable economic development projects.  Misak is considered to be a fairly dangerous place in the country because of the illegal drug trafficking in the area.  I actually had to get a security clearance from the country office before leaving.  I’m traveling with my supervisor this time (I went to the Dominican Republic alone), so that makes me feel a little bit better!

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Back from the DR!

16 Jun

I just got back from a week in the Dominican Republic, with the Pan American Development Foundation.  I went to do some filming for several video projects in the country. I mostly stayed in the capital, Santo Domingo, where PADF’s DR office is located and took day trips to several cities across the country for the various filming projects.

The first and most important project was interviewing and shooting B-roll video for this year’s honoree for PADF’s Heroes of the Hemisphere awards event.

I also shot video and interviews of Centro Puente in Dajabon, an beneficiary organization that works on borders issues between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.  On Mondays and Fridays, Haitians are permitted to cross the border into the Dominican Republic to sell their goods at a binational market.  I actually got to go and shoot the market and the border.

Finally, I shot interviews and video about the new fire station that PADF donated money to build in Bavaro, a tourist resort area on the south-eastern part of the country.

I was scheduled to travel with PADF to Colombia next week, but we decided to push the trip back to the end of July because of the upcoming elections.

All in all, I shot about six hours of footage total.  Now, I have to log and capture all the footage into Final Cut Pro, and make the footage into videos.  So basically, I’ll be spending the rest of the summer in the editing lab!

I had an awesome time in the DR and hope to come back some day (preferably to one of the beaches!).

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Off to the Dominican Republic!

6 Jun

I am leaving tonight for the Dominican Republic to shoot video for the Pan American Development Foundation.  I will be flying into the capital city, Santo Domingo, and driving to Las Matas de Farfan, where I will be interviewing this year’s honoree for the Heroes of the Hemisphere awards event.  I’ll be bringing my Canon Vixia HV40 HD camcorder with a shotgun microphone.

The honoree, Amarilis Castillo, works to improve conditions at the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.  The border is one of the most challenging areas in the country, particularly after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.  Castillo created a network of civil society organizations called Nuestra Frontera (“Our Border”) to combat poverty in borderlands.

I’ll be back in the States next Monday!

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