We were recently lucky enough to be visited by an old friend from New York City, Keefe Murren. We were doubly lucky that while he was here he volunteered much of his time to Roots of Health. Keefe is a documentary filmmaker who currently works for the Sundance Channel. He proposed creating a short one-two minute film about our work that we could use on our website and on our Facebook page. He also suggested creating a longer, 10 minute version of the film that we could use for fundraisers, grant applications, and generally to inform people more about our work. We were thrilled at his ideas and got to work planning what the videos would be like. We told the women we work with in Pulang Lupa that a filmmaker would be visiting them, and they were all very excited that they would have the chance to share their stories.

Keefe arrived in Palawan and the next day we put him to work filming a women’s education session in Pulang Lupa. He was amazed at how friendly all the ladies were and how everyone seemed to be at ease with the camera. After the session Keefe held the camera as Ami asked the mothers questions about their lives. What was your childhood like? When did you get married and start your own family? What are your hopes and dreams for yourself? And for your children?

With each session Keefe attended and filmed, he felt ever-more comfortable and the women continued to open up. Even though we have been working in the community for almost five months, we learned a lot of new things about each individual woman who was interviewed, and we were really moved by the answers that the mothers gave. They told stories of hardship, loneliness, and abuse. All except one mother cried during the interviews. But they also told stories of amazing endurance and resilience and we could not help but be awed by the strength of these women and girls.

We hadn’t expected it but the interviews gave us some real insight into not only the lives of the mothers at Pulang Lupa, but their family histories. People say that history repeats itself. I agree — in many cases it does. Here however, the majority of mothers we interviewed want to be better parents to their children than their parents were to them. They want to provide their children with the things they did not have while they were growing up, most notably the opportunity to go to school. They want their children to have better lives than the lives they have had.

And with a little help they will be able to give their kids brighter futures. By working with the women to help them plan their pregnancies and have healthier families, we hope that the mothers will be able to only have as many children as they want and can support, and that they will also be able to devote more of their energy and resources to care for the children that they do have.

In all, Keefe filmed two weeks of women’s educational sessions, one nutritional support program session and 13 in-depth interviews. Even though it was always blisteringly hot at Pulang Lupa, Keefe didn’t seem to notice the heat. He never got tired and was always up for more filming. The one time that I held the camera and filmed was when Keefe interviewed Ami. Although the camera only weighs about a kilogram, in order to get good angles, the camera forces you to stand in an awkward position. After about ten minutes of filming, my back started hurting. Five minutes later my arm went to sleep. From that point on I was juggling my personal discomfort with getting the best shot possible, making sure Ami was in focus and trying not to move around too much. Keefe always made filming look so easy and the hour I spent behind the camera gave me new respect and appreciation for just how difficult filming is –the mental challenges of setting up the best shots, the emotional and interpersonal challenges of making the interviewees comfortable and getting them to open up, and the physical challenges of operating the camera. This is hard work!

Before Keefe went back to New York City, Ami and Lyn Lyn spent hours poring over the footage of the interviews, transcribing and translating in order to allow for Keefe to begin the long and equally challenging job of editing and piecing the footage together. I am looking forward to seeing the end product of all the filming, and to have a powerful tool for showing people what we do here, and why.

Participating in this filmmaking process has given me a lot more insight into the lives of the women that we work with and a newfound respect for the women and mothers that they have become, in spite of the hardships they have been forced to endure, and continue to struggle with. These women are so strong and resilient, and live their lives with such grace and dignity despite having so many challenges. I wish you could all meet them and see this for yourselves but I’m glad that in a few months, you’ll be able to see Keefe’s film and get to know these amazing women better.