HIV Stories on Toast
by Nathan Clendenin on November 20th, 2006
I found an interesting viral marketing site today called Your Name on Toast. All the proceeds from the site are going to charity and in the first day or say they’ve raised over $1500, just for putting your name on toast with a link to your site.
Saturday Night Soul A Huge Success
by Nathan Clendenin on October 3rd, 2006
With more than 300 lbs. of meat, more than 100 volunteers and months of prior planning, the first annual Saturday Night Soul benefit went off without a hitch. More than 250 people from around the country showed up for some amazing food (smoked brisket, smoked ribs, corn and sweet potatoes for starters), great music from the New Soul Survivors and an exhibit from HIV Stories, all outdoors in a beautiful park in Will’s neighborhood.
We met lots of great people, mostly from Atlanta, but many came from elsewhere. My father, sister and friend Bill Ross, came from Arkansas and Rebecca's parents and a friend came from Birmingham, AL. Not to mention a posse from Chapel Hill. We had a great time setting up, enjoying the evening, and most of all raising more than $7,000 for Vincent's church, The Powerhouse! Vincent will be able to finish the building his church hopes to use for the next few years as their permanent location goes through a long process involving endless paperwork and bureacracy.
Check out the video below, shot just a month ago in Mamelodi by a team from Chapel Hill Biblechurch visiting. Vincent discusses the site and their hopes for it. In the video with Vincent is Andy Smoak.
We said goodbye to Vincent on Monday night. He's off to Chicago for a bit, then Germany with missonary Bill Rapier, then home to Mamelodi. It was sad to see him go, but we know we'll see him again, hopefully soon in Mamelodi.
Benefit Event for The Powerhouse Church
by Nathan Clendenin on September 19th, 2006
Will Brown had the crazy idea to take his bbq events a bit further, and make it a benefit event with sales of food and photography going towards Vincent’s church in Mamelodi. After many months of planning, it is coming together, and will happen on September 30, 2006 in Atlanta, GA. Food, Photography and Blues will abound, besides fun and fellowship. I am presenting prints from HIV Stories titled, “Facing the Future.” The exhibit is made up of portraits of youth. These prints will be on sale, along with others I’ve taken, and 100% will go to the Powerhouse Church.
The best part: Vincent will be at the event!
SNDies Silver Award
by Nathan Clendenin on September 6th, 2006
HIV Stories won a silver medal award at the annual SNDies, “Best of New Media” design competition! View all the winners.
Granny’s Grandson
by Nathan Clendenin on May 20th, 2006
In speaking with Vincent recently, I learned that Mabel’s grandson, one of the orphans who is old enough and able to work, has been missing for some time. They fear he may have been kidnapped. I don’t understand what motive a kidnapper would have, since they have no money to give for a ransom, but nevertheless I am praying, as I know this is troubling Granny very much.
It’s a Girl!
by Nathan Clendenin on May 7th, 2006
I spoke with pastor Vincent recently on the phone, and he shared the good news with me that Selina and Vuci had a baby girl! The baby is healthy so far. Selina was taking Neveropin to reduce the chances of transmitting HIV to the baby, which usually occurs during the birth. I didn’t get any details on the girl’s name or any other specifics, but I know that Selina and Vuci are very excited. This is the the second child they’ve conceived, the first died at only a few months old.
Final Days of Post-Production
by Nathan Clendenin on April 16th, 2006
Like water to parched land, this psalm is getting me through the final days of production, as deadlines loom…
Psalm 121
“I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from GOD,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.
GOD’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you–
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.
GOD guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.”
More Funerals
by Nathan Clendenin on February 11th, 2006
I tried to arrange on Friday with William, the gravedigger, to visit the gravesite again on Saturday, hoping for softer light with the cloudy weather. He said he would not be there and wasn’t sure if he could arrange with his substitute to have me there. I would not have been worried about that, given that I always just explain to each funeral party what I’m doing when they ask, without William being right there. However, Gloria’s father passed earlier in my trip and his funeral was today. Vincent asked me to come, and with hesitation at first, I went. I was feeling, as at the end of Friday, totally uncreative and out of energy to keep shooting. I shot photos but without enthusiasm and they weren’t very good (in my eyes). It was a very large funeral though, bigger than any I’ve witnessed in S Africa. In the car with me and Mandla were Selina and Vuci. It was great to ride with them and spend time with them, not photographing. Vincent noticed, and I concur, that I’m really becoming a part of their family. I bought disposable cameras for the kids earlier, as Thebo esp. kept trying to take pictures with my cameras. I wish I had time to really teach them, and perhaps I will in future trips. I find myself wanting to help this family so much, not in a poverty relief way, as they have good shelter and food, but in an opportunity way. I see such promise in the kids, because of their strong parents. I want to have them visit the U.S. and show them around. I want to finance their educations and see to it that they make it out of Mamelodi, at least for awhile. But those are my feelings and thoughts, I only pray that our relationship will be able to continue over the years to come.
Along the same lack of creativity lines, I am having a feeling that I have missed some crucial part of some of the stories, like no closing shot or no good scene setter. Yet weirdly, I am taking no initiative to check or make those kinds of pictures just in case. I am trying a bit, but the pics don’t have people in them or for some reason don’t work out right. I am basically just worn out from working on these stories, and feel like I’m in a huge rut with my camera. I don’t know how to get out of it, except to take time away, which I don’t have. Deep down I am worried all this effort will go to waste, will be not as good as I hope. I know sometimes these are just lies blown out of proportion by my feeling a lack of control. I try to ignore them, and I pray about them. I have this deeper feeling that God will use this project, as I’ve asked, to raise awareness beyond ways I can imagine.
Quiet Strength
by Nathan Clendenin on February 10th, 2006
I worked with sister Margaret today. As I hoped, she needed to spend time at the hospice (instead of in the office building). I am impressed with her quiet strength, which she displays through leadership of her staff and caring for the patients with grace. I photographed her working for awhile, and did an audio interview. She spoke to me in English, unlike many of the other interviews. However, I will likely still have a voiceover for her because the room was unavoidably noisy (a constant beeping in the background and patients moaning a bit). Plus that will remain consistent with the other stories. I didn’t have to ask but one question to get all the information I wanted to cover. I photographed her working with patients a bit more, and she reminded me of the ones we had visited earlier in the week that were now here. One of the patients, a man with HIV who had an usuable arm due to a stroke, look much much better in the hospice. Another woman, looked worse. Margaret started to ask me what else I wanted, at which point I realized it was time to leave. I didn’t feel unwelcome, but she started to do things for me just so I could photograph, and so I stopped. There wasn’t much else to photograph anyway, otherwise I would have attempted to explain that I couldn’t photograph posed events. Instead I dropped it and started wrapping up. We had a nice goodbye and I could tell she was happy to have worked with me.
Uncle’s Orphans
by Nathan Clendenin on February 9th, 2006
I went back to visit the Uncle Orphans today. I hoped they would get used to my cameras and stop posing for me, but alas such was not the case (as Vincent predicted). Even after two hours, most of the children were still posing for me and fighting for my attention. I made some nice shots though, of the portrait variety. Instead of getting discouraged, which I started to feel, I decided the only way to tell this story is to call it something like “Portraits of Poverty”. I don’t know if it will end up in the final product, as the link to AIDS is uncertain. But the link to poverty is so strong. I’ll have to see what Pat thinks. It makes a nice fifth story, one that is a little different as a series of portraits.