Solid Women Win (a 2012 DoGooder Award!!)

The big news today is that our video for Fonkoze USA has won a 2012 DoGooder Award! It’s amazing to have our work with Fonkoze honored amongst the other excellent non-profit video showcased over the last month. A million thanks to our clients and supporters for your votes!

But our real gift is the below video which shows the five “solid women” watching their own video. I have to admit my stomach churned as I opened the link…. What would they say? What if they hated it? What if we hadn’t done justice to these brave women?

In the endless slicing and dicing that video making necessitates, it’s easy to lose the real living, breathing human beings that ARE our videos. In this work we need the constant reminder that these are not actors, they are mothers and business-owners. After we leave their home or marketplace or country, their lives continue… their struggle is not washed away by inspiring music and slow-motion portraits. It’s our responsibility to do this work with care, respect and a human touch.

That’s why the reaction of these women to the video means more than any other award could. As Mariette says “I am hopeful because I never thought you would come back and show us this….. to see how far we’ve come.”

That, right there, is the only award we need.

To learn more about the AMAZING work Fonkoze is doing, visit: fonkoze.org