Tag Archives: Philippines

IndieGoGo campaign

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Hi friends, family and 27 Months supporters!

We are launching an IndieGoGo crowd-funding campaign to raise $35,000 to allow us to film for the volunteers’ second year of service. We’ve already got hundreds of hours of footage from the first year and wonderful moments to share in the film, but we need help to make sure we film throughout the second year and see what happens to the volunteers and what mark they leave on the people of their host communities.

Hopefully you’ve watched the trailer for 27 Months and are excited to see the final film. Please support us by clicking on the IndieGoGo badge to the right, watching the pitch video and sharing our campaign with friends, colleagues, returned volunteers or anyone through the social media buttons on the right.

Among the various perks you can get for supporting the project: a DVD of the film, invitations to screenings, your own video to tell a story on the film’s website or to keep for yourself and a stainless steel water bottle, courtesy of Flipside Gear, that is the perfect indestructible companion for all your adventures. AND it lets you tell the story behind the question.

Hint: Each country has its own unique food that you can’t miss if you’re there. FYI Catherine eats balut in the IndieGoGo video, so check that out :)

 

Product Information
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Dispatch from Marinduque

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Just got back from another wonderful — but sticky and hot — trip to the Philippines. It was great to be able to spend another week on Marinduque with Catherine and the Rivamonte family, her incredibly generous host family that lets me film everything! Almost everything. They continue to take care of me even though Catherine moved out to her own apartment last month. But, I draw the line at them doing my laundry. Fortunately for me, I’m not there long enough for it to become a problem.

This time I was accompanied to the island by Michael Christian Cardoz, a young filmmaker from Manila who set the Matalaba High girls’ hearts on fire (and maybe a few of the boys’ too) with his adorable smile and TV star good looks. I couldn’t have asked for a better assistant! I think some day I’ll be carrying his gear! Here we are with Catherine late one night after I filmed her eating her standard fried egg sandwich dinner (yes, even the mundane activities of a Peace Corps volunteer are good cinema). Oh, yes, I am wearing a UNC hat. I earned Honorary Tar Heel status when I got two UNC grads to agree to let me pester them for three years with a camera.

We spent several days filming at Matalaba High School, where Catherine has become a patient and beloved teacher. The kids — boys and girls alike — are shy in the classroom but burst into outrageously charismatic singing/dancing/modeling butterflies during the innumerable performances I witnessed, including one in Boac that must have featured at least five groups dancing to Maroon5′s “Moves Like Jagger”. I hope I never have to hear that song again.

I also got to catch up with Gina Hesiak, a PCV serving in Mocpog, the closest community to Catherine in Santa Cruz. Here they are at their favorite restaurant in Boac eating the house speciality: meatballs. Yes, sweet and sour meatballs. O! the Philippines is place of many wonders!