By Save the Children | Thu., June 3, 1:06 PM | Comments ( 0 )
Stuart Shahid Bamforth produces films for Save the Children, and has recently been on location in India, Afghanistan and Gaza. He is a BAFTA-winning film-maker with many years' experience running film workshops with children and young people.
Organised activities become incredibly important after a catastrophic event such as an earthquake. We worked with Save the Children's child-protection team in Haiti, and organised our film-making workshops within one of their many "Child Friendly Spaces" in Leogane. Such places are set up in the wake of emergencies as areas where children can go to be safe, accounted for, to be looked after, to learn, to play, to sing. They provide a rare semblance of normality in a situation where all certainly has been lost.
Every day, the children would arrive at the Child Friendly Space, beaming and full of energy. Given that they were all living in tents and makeshift tarpaulin shelters, I was always amazed at how smartly turned out they would be, putting my rather dishevelled traveller appearance to shame!
We chose a group of six children to work with, based on their aptitude and enthusiasm, and in order to provide a spread across age and gender with a variety of back-stories relating to their experiences of the earthquake. Each of the six embraced the project in their own individual ways. Little Jean (11), for example, was an absolute natural with the camera; understanding immediately the significance of good composition and the eye line of the interviewee. He took the responsibility of carrying the heavy tripod between locations in the 96 degree heat very seriously. Manoushka (13) became an expert in devising investigative questions that would tease the best stories out of interviewees. And Sophia (16) was always keen to bear witness for the children of Haiti and represent their testimony to the rest of the world.
Perhaps most touching, though, was Nenel; a 17 year old boy who lost two sisters and a little brother on the day of the earthquake. He was playing football at the time, and ran home to find three of his siblings crushed under the concrete rubble of their two-story house. On the first day of the workshops, Nenel told us he didn't want to talk about his experiences (which we said is okay), but 48 hours later we heard him explaining to Manoushka why it was important he had his story recorded on film - "I have to do this to get it out of my head."
Haiti Earthquake: Nenel's Story
At 4.55pm on January 12th, 2010, 17 year old Nenel was playing football with his mates. That's when the earthquake struck. That day he lost two sisters, and his little brother Martini, who were all trapped under the rubble of their family house. Nenel now lives in a tent with his uncles and 13 other people.
Haiti Earthquake: Derchine's Story
13 year old Derchine wants to be a doctor, but she hasn't returned to school since the earthquake destroyed her home and her school. She takes us on a tour of the new temporary home.
To watch the stories of six children who are living in a temporary camp in Leogane, Haiti click here. All of them lost friends and family in the disaster. But every day they can forget some of their worries and play with friends at our "espas timoun" (child-friendly space).
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