GP job hunt Nairobi

location: Nairobi, kilimani, talentus cyber with soloman, judy, minah, mixing up the music, kinothea sick under blankets.

this picture was taken at the Earthday beach clean up- I am holding Linda video camera at my chafu, wonderful Dar Es Salaam beach.

Dear Greenpeace

My name is Sarah Fowler; I am an independent media artist and am very familiar with the work of Greenpeace, specifically GP Canada. We have a long history as one of my first jobs was fundraising door to door. My commitment has stretched from ideological to financial when I became a frontline member. I am aware of current campaign and intend to make a feature length cinema documentary about life on the rainbow warrior, esperenza and artic sunrise. Currently I am living in Nairobi, Kenya but when you see both my creative energy and diverse experience perfectly suited to the position of video editor I intend to move to Holland.

I completed my first film in 2001, entitled The Memory Game; an exercise in directional thinking. It is a short experimental piece, which toured the festival circuit in Ebensee Austria, Olympia Washington and my home province of Ontario, Canada. Since I have been working on video projects in East Africa, volunteering for the Jane Goodall Institute and learning Kiswahili. I have my own final cut pro editing system, a G4 Macintosh, with which I will edit together my next masterpiece, a travelogue epic with sewn together themes of development work, poverty, theft and spiritual evolution in the cradle of humanity. Time will tell, it may be a musical!

An avenue where I found much experience, both working in time based medium and concrete technical skills was the Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa (IFCO). I had the opportunity to work with many talented directors, aiding them in attaining their own vision and also served on the Board of Directors, two years (one as president elect). Integrating contributions from my team, allowed us the accomplishments of submitting multi-year action plans to stakeholders, fabricating production grant criteria, constructing cultural equity policy and encouraging a membership of 200 plus media artist to complete masterpieces for our gala screening

This past July I was a guest instructor for the children’s panorama at ZIFF, Zanzibar Film Festival of the Dhow Countries. My class was designed to be a hands on learning experience for 30 Muslim students, where first we discussed the history of motion picture and then we used still camera to develop an eye for composition and easy with equipment. . Most recently my involvement with the Jane Goodall Institute; Tanzania has presented me the prospect of organizing an art-photo contest and exhibition,. It served as a local fundraiser to support local students on a cultural heritage field trip and marked occasions of World Environment Day and African Child Day. Combining media, art, awareness and democratic involvement of elementary school students, I spearheaded this event. It was very fulfilling to cultivate the idea and bring it to fruition.

My best trait is to cross-pollinate art and awareness, inspiring activism that people carry in their spirits. A collaborative designer, I tell stories which expand perceptions, open lines of communication and act as catalysts for creativity. I immensely enjoy collaborating on a perspective with a team then proceeding to flesh out the idea with details. Allowing the process of organic development to intermingle with facts and situations. Unfortunately due to my current location, which tends to change frequently, I am unable to send a demo reel until late September.

My coordinates are found at the top to my included curriculum vitae. If you have any questions, please contact me.


Sincerely,
Sarah Fowler

thye painted ones

down the road from arusha is a village called minjingu.
on the left of lake manyara, at obedi gust house is my friend ben marcus.
he makes my life cool, chats under the shooting stars
over chicken killed fresh, na wale
showing my his art work; painted on water canisters,
specially designed to collect rainwater for the children of the schools
humpty dumbpty potatoe head dooh.
the subway map to the tree of life &
reminder frogs, telling people to wash there hands after the chooni
a breathe- taking landscape and a book swap
our safari of the tanangare gave us the privillage of seeing 2
fierce female lions feeding on a hartebeast
poor bugger.....predators simply chewing their cud,
heaving from stuffing there face
a wild dog in the background hoping for a little nibble
but to me the treat was
to ride around the park with a wildebeast scientist
learning about the should bar codes adn there relation of cattle
lunch of peanut butter and chai on the side of the road and bonnet
and the painted ones.... punda mila and twiga
heaps of contrast donkey running across the trail
and megavore streching to the trees tasty greens
there pattern only found here. stripes and spots.
it changed the direction of my film,
altered folklore, with every tell of the tale
replacing the hare and hyena is the girrafe and zebra
repacing the ngombe =cow will be the wildbeast

which brings me to today, after a rush then a wait the a bath
i watched movies and read the dhamrma bums
and now i am headed out of this country, on the road to the border.

glaciers of kilimanjaro

goodbye dar es salaam. perfect-yesterday- i arrive in a new town, arusha, got a free ride in a 10 seater plane, with heaps of un-ending gratittude to my friend Julian, (pictured Thom is the one with crazychop sticks) his presence, talents, connections. After we landed in my final destination he bought me coffee, chapatti, asked me about my films, why i make them. for once i wanted to talk about it, owning, accepting that desire, art for life's sake stuff. in the plane, he even let me hold the controls , flying it( and the 4 people inside) parallel to the coast line of zanzibar ( how cool is that, officailly i have now been there 4 times, even if for a few minutes) but when we landed, i hurled, water out the door. yikes, i am not yet a great co-pilot, scaring every passanger, putting on a show for the tourist at the airport. generally being unprofessional... perhaps it is my style...or habit. back in the air again, i hit a state of calm, closed my eyes to the variant shades of blues, light to dark, sky to sea, with a soft cotton candy crust of bubbly clouds, like a cosmic cappucino, i took a peace nap, and opened my eyes to see mount kilimanjaro, complete with glaciers, BIRTHED IT'S ROUND HEAD FROM THE CLOUDS. jUST LIKE BEING IN HEAVEN, or perhaps a bird...albatross with powerful wings. through the clouds, a touch of rain, streaking the windows with stripes as the drops stretched across the speed. apon arrival i puked again, then went to a dr.( i am fine, just airsick) & hotel to sleep it off, the descending tied my stomach into knots, then had a reverse gravity thing going on. This morning i feel slow, adn anti-social but generally healthy-fine, hakuna fever, aches. i may even eat a full breakfast before i find a bus in search of my next adventure.
karibu arusha, and your cold weather... a hop...skip....jump.... from kenya...nairobi...etc

International Volunteer Report-April to June 2006

International Volunteer Report from April to June 2006
Prepared by Sarah Fowler smfowsy@gmail.com
(photo of a blurry amehdi the house keeper in my ensuite bathroom at dr. Jane's house)
My involvement with the Roots & Shoots activities in Tanzania

· Participate in water use and policy discussion hosted by US embassy at Protea hotel on April 21, 2006, Earth Day event.
· Organize a beach clean up on msasani beach April 22, 2006 for local residence and international students; later reported in the Citizen
· Prepare entry form and press release of Photo & Art contest
· Seek out local business for sponsorship and prize donation
· Distribute forms to schools and community spaces
· Teach project and team management seminar at leadership camp, 100 students hosted at the house.
· Document on film various actiivtes including Yatima youth at camp
· Participate in Usiku Mtoto- African child day- June 14, 2006
· Visit Dar Independent School (DIS) to assist in setting up Roots & shoots club in primary section, talk with the secondary students about re-organizing the community service group to have 4 years activities, plant-animal –human –peace. Last day of school event with beach clean up, vote and art
· Participate in staff review and performance appraisal by submitting feedback.
· Prepare response letter to WWF, which was later abandoned
General Office feedback
Constructive criticism I have for the entire office functions is increased communications on the whole, and between the Dar staff. A Roots & Shoots; Tanzania newsletter would facilitate better cohesion throughout the country but a separate position of communications / public relations officer may be needed. This person would also be the contact for local press agencies and sponsors to further increase exposure of activities organized by the office or the students.

I have no doubts that every member of the Dar es Salaam; JGI team is involved with Roots & Shoots ideology and actions, however I have observed that no one knows what each other is doing. All strong personalities moving forward on separate projects means that team work and skill sharing is minimized. Please understand that my foreign perspective may not be viewing the entire inter-office working, but my experience has been that increased communication would be beneficial.
A regular, weekly meeting of one hour would allow the cross pollination of projects and a general cohesion in the work done by the office. This would also help to integrate future international volunteers and give an overview of what can be expected in the coming week. I enjoyed the meeting that was held when Dr. Jane had first arrived on June 13, 2006, all members of the team gave a brief caption as to the work most pertinent to them, and examples of ways that they might be able bind their work to that of others; facilitating more cooperation and team building. We all know that by working together we can accomplish much more than by separating our efforts. This way each action has more breadth and knowledge can be shared. Something I find ineffective is the way each activity must be promoted only by the person who is spearheading it, and if there is a basic inquiry made to another team members, answers are difficult to find. To host a weekly meeting in the library would be a best practice to adopt so each member can express their project then receive feedback and support. This would help promotion and presence in the community because each member would be briefed on each activity on a weekly basis, thus increasing awareness. Also different skill sets could be better utilized and wasted effort and time would be minimized. A personal example from my work with Roots & Shoots is trying to have other team members distribute the press release, to increase awareness and participation in the art-photo contest. I had tried to present a brief written explanation to Erasto so he could use one minute of the time he had on the Femina talk show to let a larger audience know where to get more information if interested in the contest. While one can certainly still focus on their own priorities it would be helpful to cross promote the work of other team member, should these opportunities arise.

Art & Photo contest:

Primary objective: to engage all age groups by combining art and environmental awareness with a focus on self generated fundraising. The intention was to build a city wide model (which students could then scale down to fit there school’s activities) which funds for Dar es Salaam students were raised within the community, promoting sustainability.

Goals
Monetary
Fundraise 50 000tsh from the local Dar es Salaam community to go towards an educational excursion for primary school students
Exhibit more of an active presence in the market domain and explore the history that JGI Roots & Shoots has in Tanzania

Community
Engage people of all ages, using the vehicle of art, in observation, appreciation and conservation of our shared environment.
Promote intercity communication between schools on both primary and secondary levels; as well as that with the Roots & Shoots office
Local business support of art and Roots & Shoots in the community

Media
Facilitate media involvement and representation for Roots & Shoots activities, by establishing a press release system and open line of communications with major newspapers and circulations.

Student centered activitity
Empower children to create art using whatever tools at hand
Expand the understanding of art to poetry, sculpture, film etc
Allowing the exchange of ideas to surpass mere technical skills.
Imparting an attitude of equality, compromise and team work
Introducing the system of democratic representation, which can further be employed in appointing officers in Roots & Shoots clubs
Facilitate a voting system where by they may learn that all voices deserve to be heard in a equal and fair forum

Participants
· Photo- adult
Gil Medina
Chris Argo

· Photo- child
Atick, Tehya, primary students from DIS

· Art ( all mediums)
Francis Shuku, Sarah, Angela, students from Hopal primary school

· Jury
PHB, Felix, Pius, James, Yuda, Vincent Vitalis, Raphael Kiendo, Peter Lazar, Zurekha Kibombo, Rose, James, Hawa Hamisi, Veneranda Mkama, Hellen Thoja, Shomaly Mathayo, Sherman, Ibrahim Saidi, Kenny Juma, Ladislans Alex, Gerry, Njege, Asha, Jeniva Jackson, Rose, Samson, Mwanahamisi.H.Lungole, Asha, Omary, Hassan Amiry, Michael Shao, Thomas, Beda, Sarah Mrunku, Stephen, Rahma Mohammedi, Saidi Salehe, Jauth Christopher, Seif Haruna, Frank Shimo, Rahimu Ibrahimu, Marium Seifh, Yolanda John, Shirma E, Adwan Soloka, gardencia Cleophace, Fatma Ramadhani, Angeline Nrko, Estherollian Kirarzi, Tatu Said, Velen John, Shabiamu Aman,
Victor Thomas, Adam Mjungi, Jackson Kawishe, Issack Shaba, Godfrey, Ruth, Vanessa, Devy, Terry, Khadya, Jonathan, Abdiel, Varnett, Honorina, Nadia, Sarika, Janina, Peter, Ankit, Francis, Nuru, Junior, Charles T. Anthony, Noni, Dudley, Pamela, Tabea, Jamila, Shaana, Doreen, Maria, Catherine, Brian, Agnes, Norma, Amreen, Kimberley, Evelyn, Megan, Nkeno, Jacqueline, Alvin, Abhel, Lorenzo, Aristotle, Nenkondo, Bernaette, Lilian, Karen Huang, Norah Wilson, Franisca, Annisa, Shewa M., Grant Kawo, Seame O.

Total reach= upwards of 200 people

Finances

Adult photo Tanzania shillings
24 000
28 000
Children Photo
500
Art –all ages
10 000
1000
Total raised 63 500 tsh
EXPENSES – all eligible receipts submitted (11 000)
Balance 52 500tsh



Project Evaluation

Possible Improvements include but are not limited to…..
· greater reach into the Roots & Shoots clubs network
· world wide participation with regional prize categories
· extend to allow the global winners design artwork for JGI publication, which also could be used as a fundraiser (calendar or postcards for sale on the website )
· annual contest designed to build momentum, sponsorship, reach and participation each year
· more connection with local business and media
· Publication of winners in newspaper or Dar guide.
· Improved prizes

Proposed timeline for future fundraiser

January
Send a call for sponsorship, letter to potential business to facilitate donated prizes, money or in kind services in exchange for advertisement on the entry form

February
Connect with DTP about sponsoring the printing (contact Tina)
Allow for revisions and printing turn around time

April 3- opening of contest, Dr. Jane’s Birthday
Distribute entry forms to schools, news outlets, shops etc

World environment day. June 5th
Early bird deadline
Allow exhibition and voting to start in house his day; I give incentive for early entry.

African Child day- June 16th.
Last day to vote for winners of contest.

July-Contact winners- distribute prizes, alert media, etc

World Wildlife WWF response never sent

James P. Leape
Director General
WWF
Avenue du Mont-Blanc
1196 Gland
Switzerland

Re: Acknowledgement of your letter

My name is Sarah Fowler; I am an independent filmmaker and international volunteer in Tanzania. Roots & Shoots is an Environmental and Humanitarian Education Program for Youth established in Dar as Salaam, 19th, February 1991, by Dr. Jane Goodall; and currently is found in more than 90 Countries in the world. This organization is found under the umbrella of Jane Goodall Institute and believes in young people’s involvement and in supporting our communities. Dr. Jane is abroad on her lecture tour, so I have the opportunity to reply to you letter of support on her behalf but she will see your letter once she comes to Tanzania by mid June.

Firstly, thank you for your communiqué, it is comforting to have such persistent and successful teammates in the conservation arena. Secondly, congratulations on your recent success with the WalMart pledge and the Congo conservation treaty, as economics has heavy influence on global culture the waves of change will be immense. The title of your annual review, working together, really is appropriate commentary for the goal of a healthy, peaceful planet.

At JGI-Roots & Shoots, we are particularly interested in a partnership we have formed at home in coastal Tanzania. WWF’s Marine Environmental Education program (Elimu ya Mazingra Bahari) have agreed to provide our latest initiative with access to research and multi-media material to bring to primary schools. The main focus of Roots & Shoots has always been to engage youth to form better understandings of their surrounding environment and to encourage responsibility for shared resources.

Warm Regards,



Sarah M. Fowler
International Volunteer
JGI/ Roots and Shoots program
Tanzania

i talk to myself

i started-( again for the 5 time) a vow of silence. hoping to cleans myself, to mentally prepare for my film adventure, to sort out why i get robbed so much, why i am making this victim mentality my experience...... only to learn that when i am alone, my inner dialogue magically become alive on my lips, comments on my reflection " looking good" the birds over head "my you are noisy" etc etc etc...i choose to now, make a big noise.

and the phone makes 7

Last nite i was sitting in a dalla at posta, texting my pal Jean paul, ( an american) who i met at the festival. when a hand reached in thru the window and poof, sarah no longer has a phone. i punched the window, cried and somehow half expected the dude to come walking back and saying tricked ya then to give it back. that makes 7 robberies and one lost watch in cape maclear, malawi. I have no concept of time, only by the sun do i knwo night from day. I am spening another week at janes house, in silence, reading and drinkng chai from iringa. then heading north to wonder around kenya for a month before i fly home.

1- one camera borrorwed to a arab girl- kismat balala. i met her on a matatu, she was wearing a bui-bui (ninja outfit for muslim womer) and had a small boy on her lap. later, i went out drinking with her and her cousin brothers, and that is when she became a multi-faceted person to me. also she asked to borrow my camera for 2 days, so like a dumb mzungu i handed it over.
2- by a family i was staying with, lend 5000ksh and lost 5000ksh
3-on a matatu, the good old, quick hands, distract gig.
4- dudes who change money on the street 100usd for 16oootsh
5-in malawi by my canadain bank, no money out of the maching but $300 plus fees withdrawn from my account
6- on the beach at dawn by my so called friends in zanzibar
7 posta dalla phone swip.... perhaps the oldest trick in the book.

on the walk to the interent cafe, some kids ran up to me, snotty noses and grabby hands, one of them had a safety pin in her ear.... that was a fashion statement i used to sport around ottawa (it mad my mother confused). the mom asked me in swahili, which i didn't understand, why i don't have kids, i said kazi ingi. many work. i guess i dont hate everything..... (pictured is shuku and me practicing for the circus)