BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

Bang For Your Buck from ShootingPoverty on Vimeo.

This is one of three films that is a finalist in the Oxfam shooting poverty competition. It's currently in four languages and being screeened around the world. So far it's been viewed in 68 countries. You can vote for this film until February 15th at

http://shootingpoverty.org/

The documentary has arrived

Hey guys,

Check out the documentary my friend Daniel from HELO magazine did on our journey to bring Bang for your Buck to the screens in New York and around the world. We'll be premiering the films in London in January.

Filming Violence (Full Documentary, 14 minutes) from HELO Magazine on Vimeo.

Mammas

MAWE from SETH CHASE on Vimeo.

· Females in developing countries on average carry 20 liters of water per day over 6 km.
· Globally, women account for the majority of people aged over 60 and over 80.
· Pregnant women in Africa are 180 times more likely to die than in Western Europe.
· 530,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth each year.
· Of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70% are women.
· 80% of the world's 27 million refugees are women.
· Women own around only 1% of the world's land.
· AIDS sees women's life expectancy of 43 in Uganda and Zambia.
· Women are 2/3 of the 1 billion+ illiterate adults who have no access to basic education.

The Way It Is

Motosi is at it again. In this song Motosi sings of a couple different subjects, and presents them honestly and unapologetically. Some observations are unique to Burundi, like the "bed mattress" observation. Some subjects are shared by all cultures, like "marital conflict." And other topics like "begging" and "education" are sung about for good measure. I shot this video a couple months back with my friend Adam. See what you can make of it. I think it's a keeper.

The way it is from SETH CHASE on Vimeo.

Trade your gun in for a mobile phone!

Burundi collected nearly 14 000 weapons in a nationwide campaign to disarm the civilian population and ensure elections next year will be peaceful.

The tiny central African country of 8 million people is emerging from more than a decade of civil war that killed 300 000 people.

"The different arms collected from October 19 to 28 include guns, hand grenades, bombs, mines and ammunition," Leopold Banzubaze, deputy chairman of the national board in charge of disarming the civil population.

"The campaign has been successful. We hope that the 2010 election will be held in peace and security," Banzubaze said.

The national board in charge of disarmament reckons 70 000 weapons have been collected since 2007, out of an estimated 100 000 weapons in the hands of civilians.

President Pierre Nkurunziza had set a one-week deadline for people who possess weapons to hand them in or face severe penalties such as 10 years in prison or a hefty fine.

Those who gave up their weapons voluntarily received building materials such as iron sheets and cement, clothes and mobile phones.

umoja

To be together as one in spirit. That is the message of this song. John Bosco is the name of this musician, and he actually teaches music here in Bujumbura not too far from my house. He's the most refined of the musicians so far, and he has a load of songs, and on this day, he recorded two of his originals in our living room. Again, John is a friend of a friend. My buddy Adam tried to get john for a month... we couldn't track him down, so when I heard he had an hour, we just rolled cameras. I think John Bosco is Burundi's Ben Harper. I have no doubt that if John Bosco cut an Album, it would do quite well, I'll have to talk to Adam to see if we could help with that. John doesn't showcase his guitar skills here, but he's actually quite good, because he would just jam inbetween songs, and when we started recording, we would totally change his style. This song is about his message for unity, so it's a vocally driven song, with a chorus you can't ignore. He sings this song in 4 languages, almost as if, he's using the different languages to emphasize his point, that no matter what tongue you speak, we should be united in spirit as one. Again I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do.

Swahili:

Tuna taka umoja … Africa

We ask for unity … Africa

Tuna taka umoja … wa warundi wote

We ask for unity … every Burundian

Tuna taka umoja … from South Africa to Tunisia

Uwacu wote umoja … umoja ni nguvu.

We ask for unity … unity is our strength.

Kirundi:

Dusabira umoja abarundi, yeah …

We ask for unity all Burundians, yeah …

Dusabira umoja imisi yose

We ask for unity every day

Dusabira umoja ibintu vyose bifite ibibazo

We ask for unity in everything that causes us problems

Dusabira umoja imisi yose.

We ask for unity every day.

Moja - African local music project video 3 from SETH CHASE on Vimeo.

Local Burundi Music Series featuring live performances by local African artists

Have you ever heard the sound of a Burundian musician? I didn’t think so. If a Burundian wants to get his or her music on the radio or televsion, they give up all the rights to their songs, so the serious musicians never really get their music out there. They’ll maybe get an audience of a couple hundred other Burundians and a few expatriates. I decided to do a Burundi music project and feature some local musicians, from my area of the woods in Burundi in order to bring the musicians to you. This series will feature four musicians. The two musicians in this video are August and Ceasar. They are twin brothers, and they are Tutsi, and they wrote this song together about the genocide that has been happening in Burundi for the last thirteen years, only I've not heard anything like this song before. The song discusses the genocide from an angle I've not heard, and gets to the root cause. If you are from the region you would know it’s a song written by Tutsi’s, and August and Caesar have taken a bit of slack for it, but anybody who doesn't live there wouldn't be able to tell. I think it's fine for people to tell their story from whatever side of the fence they are on, true freedom of expression is necessary for healing. What I love most about all these musicians, is that, everybody that I will show you is writing from experience. Every artist featured has lived through the genocide. They are all among the poorest people in the world, they are not "A List" artists visiting the country, then writing a Billboard hit single. These guys are the real deal. They are the people in their songs. I was sort of blown away by the lyrics of this song, and as I said already I’ve never heard a song like it. If you choose to watch the video, make sure you’re in a quiet place with no distractions. A I mentioned, August and Caesar are twin brothers who grew up during the genocide, and their whole life experience is seasoned by war, and corruption, simply because of where they were born. Many of us, who watch this video are fortunate to never experience anything close to what these guys would call their, “normal life.” I’m thankful for these musicians, and the stories they tell. The struggles they’ve survived. This was a live performance recorded in our living room. Myself, Trina, and my buddy Adam, were all present to watch these guys, sing their story. I hope the song is as powerful for you as it was for me.