Planting Hope Where We Are

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One of my favorite parts of my work is telling human stories- there are hopeful stories to be found in some of the hardest places to live. And I love helping people get their stories out there!

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Usually this means once or twice a year, I’d travel to a remote part of Africa, Latin America, or Asia with cameras, notepads, and maybe even a photo/video team. Unfortunately, that couldn’t happen this year.

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But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still stories to tell. When Gladys and Esteban had a medical emergency, they had to do what so many rural Dominicans are forced to do. Visit a predatory moneylender. “Bloodsuckers,” as Gladys calls them. But thanks to her neighbors banding together, starting community led banking, and investing in her coffee business- things are different these days!

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Even though I couldn’t travel, I was able to team up with some amazing partners to tell their story via video. Our DR-based Plant With Purpose partners helped coordinate the logistics of getting to their village. Hepburn Creative helped connect us with Prime Agencia Fotografica - who gathered stunning footage and visuals like you see here. We then worked together to script, edit, and release Hondo Valle.

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We’ll be debuting this short at Plant With Purpose’s virtual event- Planting Hope: Where We Are this week. Registration is totally free and open at the link in my bio. Plus I’ll be sharing a presentation on ethical storytelling, participating in a climate change panel, and going behind the scenes on why communities like Glady’s have been fiercely resilient in spite of this year’s challenges.