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Human
Development
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“Progress for Peace”
The Making of the Documentary
Cameraman Bruce Lundeen sets up a shot on a rooftop
in Islamabad |
“Visionaries’ production crews have traveled across six continents
and to more than 50 American cities to profile the extraordinary work of true
philanthropists – people dedicating their lives and careers to the service
of others. The documentaries seek to inspire wide audiences, serve as catalysts
for positive social change, and promote philanthropy on a global level.
From the beginning, the concept of Visionaries
was to utilize television as an instrument of service by producing positive,
uplifting, and inspiring shows about individuals working for non-profits in
an effort to make the world a better place. Although the nonprofit sector is
one of the most active segments in the work force today, the media, who tend
to focus on negative images, has largely ignored it. By profiling the people
who are providing medical care, feeding the hungry, educating the poor and giving
life and dignity back to millions of people around the world, and witnessing
firsthand the successes of these ventures, Visionaries has set out to show that
one person can make a difference.”
- Excerpted from The
Visionaries publicity material
A Trip to Pakistan
Visionaries Executive Producer Bill Mosher (center)
shows a digital camera shot to HDF staff members Tauqeer Akhtar (left)
and Waqar Awan (right) in HDF’s Karachi school. |
In the spring of 2004 a production crew from The Visionaries that included
Founder and Executive Producer of Visionaries Mr. Bill Mosher traveled through
Pakistan with several members of the HDF staff. Although the production operated
within a very short timeframe, the crew still managed to conduct visits to HDF
project sites in Mardan, Karachi Katchi Abadi, Shamsabad, and Islamabad, as
well as being able to spend some time at the HDF National Office in Rawalpindi
(subsequently the National Office has moved to Islamabad). In all, the crew
filmed nearly twenty hours of raw video footage that would later be edited down
to a mere twenty four minutes of finished video. Follow the trip in our Photo
Gallery!
The Pied Piper Effect
One of the joys of traveling to Pakistan is the sight of children playing everywhere,
and as the film crew set up in each location the local children flocked to see
the scene play out, then followed the crew around the village in giddy fascination.
One of HDF’s Board of Directors laughingly describes this as “the
Pied Piper effect”, and the crew saw it replicated from village to village
throughout the trip.
Children play a universally recognized game outside
the HDF school in the Islamabad region. |
In Islamabad, the HDF Program Manager Mr. Qaiser Abbas remarked, upon seeing
the children at the local HDF school playing in the school courtyard, that he
had witnessed this same game being played by children in Scandinavia, half a
world away. What was the game? Ring around the Rosey, played by children throughout
the world. It begs the question, why is it that we learn so much about our differences
as we grow, and so little about our overwhelming similarities?
Perhaps the lesson from the Pied Piper effect is that children everywhere
are, at heart, the same. It seems that we only become different from each other
as we grow up, and that we learn our prejudices and misconceptions. But if we
look at the children we cannot miss the common humanity that binds us all.
Date/Time Last Modified: 3/7/2005 11:41:45 AM
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