amanda is going to rwanda

UMURYANGO OCTOBER 2009 www.ferashafilms.com for more...

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:08:58 -0400

UMURYANGO OCTOBER 2009 www.ferashafilms.com for more information and additional screenings.

documentary news, etc.

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:39:30 -0400

The documentary has been pushed off for a bit. There is some information that needs to be corrected in order for it to be released. Still waiting to hear back. Hopefully I will get the OK to release the trailer. I’m still pushing for the premier to happen in September, but things are getting in the way, and it’s getting close!

In other news, I am in New York City for the next months interning. Next week I am going to check out a documentary called “My Neighbor, My Killer”

http://www.filmlinc.org/wrt/onsale/hrw09/myneighbormykiller.html
There is a screening for this Saturday (the 20th of June), Monday, and Wednesday if you’re interested in coming to the big apple.

It all happened 15 years ago this month.

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:33:36 -0400

It all happened 15 years ago this month.

learn kinyarwandan

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 10:35:00 -0400

learn kinyarwandan:

Brush up on your Kinyarwandan before the documentary! Coming this summer 2009!

REILLY is performing to some of my documentary images in their...

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:19:12 -0500

REILLY is performing to some of my documentary images in their show tomorrow night in Bethlehem, PA. It’s at the First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem (2344 Center Street zip: 18017) at 6pm! Don’t miss it!

http://www.foundationrwanda.org/

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:09:35 -0500

http://www.foundationrwanda.org/:

This is awesome! They put commercials up while I was watching the latest episode of 24 on hulu… haha.

a story about my blog

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:45:04 -0500

a story about my blog:

a friend of mine wrote a bit about my trip in her blog.

from the upcoming documentary… here is a snippet from it....

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:04:00 -0500

from the upcoming documentary… here is a snippet from it. enjoy!

STAY TUNED!!! For the premier in 2009.

visit: vimeo.com/ferashafilms for more information.

Congo's Peacekeepers are Coming Under Fire

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:28:00 -0400

Congo's Peacekeepers are Coming Under Fire:

“…the war in Congo is immeasurably more complicated than the one in Rwanda. But in other ways, it’s a direct sequel.”

an e-mail I got:

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:46:00 -0400

We wanted you to know that this coming Tuesday and Wednesday in Rwanda is the national secondary school entrance examination. Passing the exam is required for entry in to secondary school, so it is very important. Jean Claude, one of the boys at Umuryango, will be taking it. He has been studying very hard and expects to do well on it. Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to prepare for it and then takes it. He will find out the results in January, and we will update you on them. Thank you!

i took a photo with the rwandan baskets at the philly...

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:27:14 -0400

i took a photo with the rwandan baskets at the philly macy’s last weekend.

a little Rwanda in Philadelphia

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:26:59 -0400

Yesterday a friend of mine came to visit me in Philadelphia. While wasting some of the time in our evening we headed to the center city Macy’s. The minute I walked in, I looked to my left and there I cried out “RWANDA!” I saw the Rwandan baskets for the first time in Macy’s… and it was just such a beautiful thing to see part of Rwanda here in America.

Some exciting things are coming about with the documentary. I am getting some good feedback here with faculty here at Drexel University. Good positive things. I am even considering taking a future trip to do more footage someday. But for now, I’ll put out a rough cut edition of the film. But still working on it, and still transferring some footage to my computer. It’s such a long process, but so worth it. Stay tuned for it. I’m sure you will.

Umuryango the Film teaser

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:05:24 -0400

Umuryango the Film teaser

facts about Rwanda

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:39:40 -0400

facts about Rwanda:

So, I’ve been doing a lot of research on street kid life in Rwanda lately for the documentary. Click the link above… but I’ll post below what I found interesting from the site:

Rwanda’s population is young. Out of the 8 million people living in Rwanda, more than half are under 18years old.

Rwanda has one of the world’s worst child mortality rates – one in five Rwandan children die before their fifth birthday. Malaria is the leading cause of infant and child mortality (29 per cent).

42 per cent of Rwandan children under five years old are malnourished.

More than 400,000 children are out of school.

Rwanda has one of the world’s largest proportions of households that are headed by children (i.e. children raising children) with an estimated 101,000 children heading up some 42,000 households.

Between 9 and 13.4 per cent of 15 to 24-year-old females, and between 3.9 and 5.9 per cent of 15 to 24-year-old boys are HIV-positive.

By 2001, an estimated 264,000 children had lost one or both parents to AIDS – representing 43 per cent of all orphans.

613,000 Rwandan children between the ages of 0 to 14 years old are orphans.

7,000 street children

3,500 children living in orphanages

1,000 children living in conflict with the law

60,000 children living with disabilities

120,000 working children

Cindy McCain in Rwanda

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:56:52 -0400

Cindy McCain in Rwanda:

I meant to put this link up before. Very cool.

This here is a photo taken by a friend of mine, Matthew Heinz....

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:05:00 -0400

This here is a photo taken by a friend of mine, Matthew Heinz. You can’t even see my guitar, and this is the smallest crowd I played worship songs for. Everyday the crowd of children grew and grew.

Ndahimana & Jean Pierre I absolutely love this photo of...

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:19:11 -0400

Ndahimana & Jean Pierre

I absolutely love this photo of these two. One of the girls on the trip took it, and I just edited it a bit to bring out the colors.

I miss Rwanda.

A Thank You video from the boys to Calvary Baptist Church who...

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:10:00 -0400

A Thank You video from the boys to Calvary Baptist Church who helped fund a new home for 20 new street boys for the Umuryango Children’s Home.

This is one of my favorite photos of Nyandwi… the light in...

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:26:31 -0400

This is one of my favorite photos of Nyandwi… the light in his eyes just makes me smile so much. The kids loved playing with the balloons (so did I!).

photos from rwanda

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:57:05 -0400

photos from rwanda:

These are a bunch of photos from me, team members, and some people that we know that are still living in Rwanda (aka Matthew Heinz, Theresa Perez, Valerie Peters). Matthew created the site and is uploading frequently. Although internet is a killer there, you sit there waiting for things to load… but he will be adding more. Check it out.