Putting the Human Into Humanitarian

I’m a multi-skilled and multi-passionate communications pro who loves telling meaningful stories. I bring photo, video, audio, writing, project management, ethics and storytelling to the table.

I know that shoots don’t always go as planned. And I’ve dealt with everything from moving timelines, transport issues, horrible weather, and bad light. Luckily, I’m creative and I have a lot of experience, which means I can figure it out!

I believe in informed consent.

Anyone I photograph, video, or interview should understand exactly how photos or videos of their lives might be used before the shoot begins. Sharing your story should be an empowering experience, a process that you get to guide as you figure out what is right for you.

I believe in the power of communities to tell their own stories.

I trust community leaders, local photographers, translators, program staff, and fixers to help me better understand the international communities that I work in and guide every piece that I create. I always have more to learn about cultural norms, power dynamics, history, and sensitivities.

I believe in collaborative editing.

I care about how a story is told and work with the people who share their story to get that story right. This means they give approval not only for being photographed or filmed but also on the final version of their story before it ever goes out into the world. Every person deserves ownership of their story.

I believe in first, do no harm.

Owning your story can be a deeply healing process. But revisiting traumatic events in your life is well…traumatic. I strive to be kind and take my cues from the people with whom I work. It is always a choice to tell your story. Every person I work with has the opportunity to end an interview at anytime. I respect those choices. People (and their feelings) are always more important than “getting” stories.

Telling Stories Using Collaborative Editing Practices

I see myself as a story facilitator, not a storyteller (unless I’m telling my own). I don’t really tell anyone else’s stories. They tell their own and I offer science, art, and communication tools that assist them in the process. I’m the person who holds space for the person telling the story and I bring open communication, media skills, and humanity together to capture the person as their deepest, most authentic selves through writing, video, audio, and photography.

Click Here for Deepa's Story

Click Here for Marie Amie’s Story

Changemaker Stories

Nyamirambo Women’s Center (NWC), a Rwandan NGO, was launched at the end of 2007 by 18 Rwandese women living in the neighborhood of Nyamirambo in Kigali, Rwanda. Together they decided it was time to improve their lives. Today, NWC’s provides education and vocational training to women and offers free classes in literacy, English, basic computer skills, handicrafts and sewing. They have a beautiful product line called “Umutima” which means heart in Kinyarwanda. The Umutima brand trains and employs over 50 women from the community to create a large variety of women’s accessories, children’s clothing, and home decor products. This is a unique, self-sustaining model where the profits earned through Umutima are used to fund NWC initiatives, in addition to providing benefits and a fair wage to the seamstresses. NWC also runs walking tours in the neighborhood of Nyamirambo that give personal insight into everyday life and local social culture. A small community library was also created near NWC.The idea behind the library is to encourage reading among the youth in Rwanda and to promote the idea of “one child, one book” in a country where many children do not have the opportunity to read and discover the world through books.

BlinkNow started in a dry riverbed in the foothills of the Himalayas, where one young woman decided to help one young girl, hoping to make one small difference. With a lot of hard work from a lot of people – that hope turned into a home, a school, and a community dedicated to building a world where children are safe, educated, and loved. Kopila Valley was born and soon blossomed into BlinkNow, a nonprofit foundation serving an ever-growing, ever-inspiring community in Surkhet, Nepal.

The ANKA Coop is a social enterprise with a mission to empower 20,000 Syrian women refugees through the creation of fine carpets and traditional crafts. They currently employ 250 Syrian refugees in Turkey and provide ethical income for entire families. Their dream is to expand their mission to other refugee camps in Turkey and help more Syrian women. Learn more here. 

This video was used in their first kickstarter campaign. It was viewed 4,598 times during the 30 day campaign and helped The ANKA Coop raise over $100,000 surpassing their initial goal of $20,000. 

On the day of the earthquake, Dinesh Tamang stepped outside to take a call. That phone call saved his life. Dinesh returned to his village five days after the earthquake struck. It was covered in landslides with no hope of rebuilding. He was determined to find a way to make things better for his community. He worked with the nonprofit Shenpen and other organizations to move 55 families from the village of Lapa to some donated land in Dohla. 

This community began working tirelessly to build 55 new houses on their land. They have worked through natural disaster and fuel shortage. Their determination shows a truly collaborative effort where donors, nonprofits, technicians, and the community have come together to build new lives for the community of Dohla.

Grow Movement unlocks the potential of entrepreneurs in Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi by matching them with volunteer business consultants. The entrepreneurs and the mentors work for 6 months over Skype and mobile to identify ways to improve the business, increase profitably and create new jobs. Since GROW started, over 500 entrepreneurs have started on our program, increasing their finance, marketing and strategy skills and creating over 600 new full or part time jobs.