On Saturday we arranged to meet the girls at Jigsaw to interview them. With the exception of one they were a little younger than the boys and so it was an unknown as to how they would take to being interviewed. They appeared all smiles and joking, giggling and hanging off each other just like girls in the UK. The youngest was 10 and the oldest 18 with stories of begging and sleeping on the streets, and the abuse that often goes with that. While Tim Dendy and Mike filmed each one of them Anita and I stayed with the rest of the girls and played circle games and pictionary. We had a real laugh together which again reflected in the magic of what Jigsaw has achieved in this community. The girls spoke less in interview and were less willing to
talk about their hardships, partly due to shame and perhaps just like any other child, they didn't want to have been seen to be in trouble. There was also a fair bit of pain and as one girl replied "I don't wish to look to the past there is no use, just to the future."
For this reason Tim Lee (CMS and Jigsaw staff) carried out the interviews as he has a good relationship with them all and a knowledge of their past, which meant his questions stayed in areas where they could answer and he knew what to avoid.
We finished Saturday in the knowledge we had now footage of 6 boys and 4 girls, but little did we realise that we were only at the beginning. All morning today we have spent looking at their stories, seeing what places we need to film around the city and in the squatter dwellings to illustrate what they have said. Never mind finding translators and voice overs to link the interviews and video. This week we also hope to film them playing basketball in their neighbourhood, doing chores as well as visiting them in their community. This has also meant that we have needed to pull together the basic outline of the Dvd, which Mike North has stepped up to the plate to lead like a fish to water. We now have four days left to shoot the film. It
has been a bit like writing an essay where you spend all your time on the preparation and the last two days on writing it up. We know what we want, it is just a case of getting it done.
Check out CMS flickr and Dave's Flickr for pics. We will be uploading the most recent ones there soon
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