"I will wait for you."

Note: The following blog was originally posted on emphas.is for our project backers, and is being re-posted here. Posted on 11/24/12 at 10:13am

Week two in Manila is wrapped! Two more to go. I feel like we've been here for a month, at least!

More about all of our activities and progress "In Other News," below.

First, I want to share some of the experiences we had today in the North Cemetery.

It's Saturday. I'm tired. We haven't taken a day "off" since arriving. There is so much to do. I woke up declaring, "I'm taking the day off!" But by noon decided to join James in the North Cemetery anyway. That's why we are here, right?

We've started a photo project with three individuals in the cemetery, giving them each a disposable Kodak camera, encouraging them to document their lives, from their perspective: what is important to them, what makes them sad/angry/grateful, etc. We've also given each one a notebook to record what the photos are, and what they mean to them. We'll give them each a book of their work before we leave.

In addition, and depending on how the photos turn out, I'm hoping to turn this into a fundraising project for the photographers and their families once we return to the U.S. and launch the documentary. We have two cameras and journals ready to develop tomorrow, and engaged with a third local photographer today. I'm encouraging each to be as creative as they wish, and I can't wait to see the photos!

I also brought my old, amateur video camera and invited LL, his "Lola" Crisna (she is unrelated but his caretaker - his mother abandoned him) and Angelina (84-year-old mother of Steve Cabuso, one of our closest friends and subjects of the documentary) an opportunity to play with it, and show their surroundings. LL generously gave me a tour of his house (room), pointing out what was important to him, where he sleeps, etc.

James produces beautiful visuals. For me, the most fulfilling part of this project is engaging people through interviews, as well as photos and video that they take, to share their perspectives with us. Today was a good day.

While James gathered high-quality b-roll and photography around the cemetery, I hung out on the north wall with the women and LL. Crisna told me that she has been sick with vomiting and fever for four days. I asked her if I could get her medicine and she showed me the packaging of what she would take, if she could afford it. (Each generic pill is almost one USD, which is completely out of her budget.) I asked permission to buy her medicine and she thanked me. I took off for the pharmacy about two blocks outside of the cemetery. I found the medicine, and as I was paying, heard my name being called. "Jessica!"

I turned around saw Steve's wife, Jinkie, and her son Jett. I asked why they were there, and they said, "for you!"

Apparently Steve sent them after me when he found out I had gone wandering by myself outside the cemetery. Jinkie held my hand, and Jett's, as we crossed the very busy, chaotic street, and brought me back, "home," to the cemetery. Steve chastised me for leaving on my own, and told me he had sent Jinkie to find me.

The feeling of being cared for, and looked after so closely, was surprising and very, very comforting. These are true friends.

I spent the rest of the afternoon speaking with Angelina: about her long life, her devastating experiences during the Battle of Manila, her brother, who was beheaded by Japanese forces during that time, her 11 children (five of whom she has outlived), and why she moved to the cemetery. It was a deeply moving conversation for me. She also told me that her first child, born when she was 19 years old, was fathered by an American soldier who never knew she became pregnant. She said she "wants to talk to him!" I have his name and I'm going to try to look him up.

I'm really looking forward to interviewing her for this project. What she has lived through is mind-blowing...and she shares it all with a smile, repeating often, "I am strong!" And she is. You're going to like her.

We also visited with Jerry and Jenny. Their daughter, Kristin, agreed to be our third “inside” documentary photographer. Jerry brought out his new pet toucan, Ralph-Palph. Google, the parrot, was released from his cage and Kristin even brought out her pet, “Bird-Bird,” who kindly sat on my shoulder. I was, clearly, elated.

Jessica with Bird-Bird

In Other News:

In the past week, we've interviewed Father Melvin Castro, Executive Secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Family Life of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, following a "media forum" against the Reproductive Health Bill, which is a very high-profile issue in this heavily Catholic country, and an issue he is leading the fight against.

We also interviewed Nathalie Versceles, faculty member of the Department of Women and Development Studies at the University of the Philippines, and Board member of Likhaan, who is very much in support of the RH Bill (although she says recent amendments have caused it to "lose it's teeth"). And, last but not least, Carlos Celdran, whose dedication to Manila, her history, and human rights for all Filipinos, is providing passionate and insightful perspective into the larger issues surrounding the context of the North Cemetery community.

We've also requested interviews with Representative Imelda Marcos (former First Lady of the Philippines) and Representative Emmanunel D. Pacquiao (Manny Pacquiao, aka, "Pacman") as Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, respectively, of the Millennium Development Goals Committee for the House of Representatives of the Philippines.

No word, yet. But we're trying!

Next week we'll speak with an expert on sustainability in informal communities, another expert or two (we hope), and begin our final interview series with residents in the North Cemetery.

...

As we left today, I gave Angelina a kiss on the cheek I told her we would see her soon. She replied, "I will wait for you."

Thanks again to all of you for your support! We're working our tails off to make a beautiful, honest documentary over here.

- Jessica Chance

Posted on 11/24/12 at 10:13am

Getting Re-acquainted: Day 1 in the North Cemetery

Note: The following blog was originally posted on emphas.is for our project backers, and is being re-posted here. Posted on 11/16/12 at 4:00pm

Dear backers,

Thank you again so much for supporting this project! With the help of friends inside the cemetery and out, we are quickly making progress wrapping up the documentary.

We left Denver at 8 a.m. Sunday morning and arrived in Malate (Manila) just after midnight on Tuesday. We spent a couple of days adjusting to the new time zone in familiar surroundings, then moved to an empty hostel in Santa Cruz just around the corner from the cemetery, so we can spend most of our energy on our work inside and outside the cemetery (rather than getting there and back).

We're grateful to have found a location so close the cemetery. It's making a world of difference in our productivity and ability to sleep! (No Malate party crowd!). We don't have water most of the time so far, but that is another story and feels small compared to the access and privacy we have here.

With every visit, James and/or I always approach the cemetery slowly (i.e., we don't arrive initially with a priority to shoot, but rather catch up with friends and check in on how everyone is doing since the last time we visited). Also, the security at the gate is always changing...will they let us in? Demand a "tip" (bribe)? It's always uncertain. The first time we arrived in 2008 we actually had to get written permission from City Hall to even enter the public cemetery; it took a week!

Today was a breeze. Ray Alvarez, a kind and very honest guard who often escorted us around the cemetery in 2008, was on the front gate, and welcomed us back. (Hooray!) First anticipated hurdle: overcome!

Before we even got through the gate, we heard shouts of "James! James!" Lots of smiles and hellos. He has developed such a positive place for himself in the community. Warm welcomes were coming out of mausoleums and from children and their parents on the streets every few seconds.

We visited with our friends Jenny and Jerry Juan first, who are relatively well-off and incredibly influential within the cemetery community. We learned a few unsettling things there. One, that since my last visit—and as James visited last October—someone he considered a friend had started spreading "rumors" about James and Jenny, centered around an afternoon when he went to document her voting in the local Barangy elections (nevermind that there were other people in tow for the trip). We don't know exactly what the rumors were, but they caused Jenny great distress, and for her to distance herself from James the last time he was here, which he had mentioned to me. That was surprising and upsetting to hear, especially that anything involving her and her family's ongoing openness to us caused her problems. Apparently, the issue has been settled between the Juan's and their former friends, but not without some blows. Ouch all around. We ran into the gossiper today, and James treated him cooly. We hope that is the last we hear of that.

Jenny also shared some devastating news about her family and several great losses that they have endured since we last visited. We were very sad to hear, but grateful that she felt able to share her stories with us still, and hopeful that lending an ear, condolences and friendship eased her burden at least for a moment. Life can be so hard.

Jenny's sister, Olyvi, and her new boyfriend, Andrew visiting with the Juans today.

When we were leaving, a friend of Jerry's offered to escort James around some other low-income communities in the metro area to provide contrast to the cemetery community for the documentary, which we aim to follow up on...more on that soon.

Next, we visited Steve, his wife, children and 84-year-old mother, Angelina. They treated us to lunch and Cokes on the north wall. It was a joy to spend time with them. They are always incredibly gracious and kind. Steve said he saw the documentary trailer on YouTube, and said that it was "very good." Glad to hear, since he is featured in it! He is very cynical of corruption in government and lies from the media, so his seal of approval on how we represented him means the world to me. He also thanked me for sending him a YouTube video of his favorite song, "Let it Be," on Facebook a few months ago. I love Facebook for allowing us to stay connected to him and Jenny.

Reunion with the Cabuso family and friends on the North wall today.

We also visited with LL, a young boy who played videographer for us on our last visit, and I hope will be doing some photography for the documentary as we ease into the project throughout the next week. He is more sickly than most, and his guardian immediately asked us for help getting medication for him again, which we of course agreed to do. He showed us his Gangnam Style dance, which was hilarious. (If you aren't yet familiar with the Gangnam Style phenomenon, I highly recommend clicking the link).

LL, Gangnam-style

Rody, who was featured in our first multimedia piece in 2008, which won the Every Human Has Rights Award, is still working in the United Spanish American War Veterans Memorial part of the cemetery, where he cleans and "pulls the grass" by hand. He suffered a stroke a couple of years ago, but was in good spirits. It was good to see him again.

We'll continue in the cemetery with follow-up interviews from 2011, and more video work to feature the economy and larger communtiy there. I'm also hoping to start a photo project with three particular kids if they are interested, which would be a complement to the overall documentary. More on that as the project progresses.

Finally, we 're lining up interviews with people outside the cemetery who can speak to larger human rights, governmental and cultural issues which surround and impact the cemetery community and others here, in addition to population growth and the history of Manila and the Philippines. This will be important to give the voices and experiences in the cemetery much-needed context for a wider audience.

To date, we're meeting with a famous activist here this weekend, and hope he'll agree to lend his voice and perspective to the project (many thanks to Veejay Villafranca for that connection...fingers crossed!). We're also extremely grateful to Ben Rasmussen and Abby Kirkbride who connected us with friends here who are introducing us to experts in women's studies, culture and history. We hope to be able to schedule those interviews this week or next.

All in all, all is well. Thank you again for your support. Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, or leave your comments below. We appreciate your support so much!

With gratitude,

Jessica & James

Posted on 11/16/12 at 4:00pm