Harnessing the power of film for the greater good – a story of hope – from LilacHowell.
Over the years, we’ve produced a fair few films with some wonderful charities, each with their own unique story and ambitions to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
We’ve worked with the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity on both the Big Hoot and the Big Sleuth; with fantastic children’s arthritis charity, Kids Like Us and recently, with Stockport Cerebral Palsy; all of which were challenging and ultimately fulfilling projects.
However, once in a while along comes a truly challenging and exciting project; one that we enjoyed immensely from the first minute to the last, from pre-production to the screening of the finished films. It’s the one on-going project that we are very proud of being involved with in some small way.
Let me tell you the story…
Our Creative Director, Steve Cranston, is a member of the Beacon Church in Stafford. In February this year, he journeyed to Nepal to film a series of short films – about what you may ask? Well…
Ten years ago, Chris, a good friend of Steve’s, met Nawaraj and Vidhya, a young, Nepalese couple with just a few weeks left in the UK on a student visa, when they had volunteered to help steward at a Christian summer camp. Soaked to the skin during a typical British summer, a group of campers from Beacon Church offered them tea and rest from the rain.
A few days later Nawaraj and Vidhya agreed to spend their last few weeks before returning home in Stafford – hosted by a couple who simply opened their home. Nawaraj and Vidhya shared a God-given dream of changing lives, one child at a time back home in Nepal, so a few brave families committed to sponsoring a child if that dream ever became a reality.
Fast-forward ten years and from the smallest of acorns, there’s a brand-new children’s home for 35 children in Kathmandu. Alongside the children’s home, Nawaraj and Vidhya now run Regents Residential School which is rated in the top 10 in Lalitpur and has over 1000 students attending.
There’s a new church building, medical centre and boarding house being constructed in Gimdi, and 50 children sponsored for education, clothes and food. Lives transformed, communities changed and churches planted.
And it started how?
In the smallest act of kindness and obedience – a cup of tea (how wonderfully British!), the promise to sponsor a child to change a life and a commitment to give beyond our capacity.
All education has a cost in Nepal and the earning potential for someone living in a village is low, they would typically earn around $50-100 in a month to live off. To help keep children in education, sponsors were found for 67 children, who were most at risk of child marriage or leaving education early to support their families; and subsequently built a community building that contains the first computer lab in the area.
Over the last decade Gimdi has seen a dramatic decline in child marriage and more students than ever staying in education to age 18 (We don’t have the exact figures to hand).
Lilac Howell’s involvement started as capturing stories of the sponsored children on film and connecting sponsors with photos of the children being sponsored at the Smile Children’s home, the school and the Gimdi Project; to explain the work that is taking place in Nepal thanks to the financial support of many from the Midlands.
It led onto annual trips where 25 people of all ages from Stafford travelled to Nepal to run activity weeks in Regents School and Gimdi School. We’d capture film of these trips to help them continue fundraising when they return. The latest being Steve’s trip to Nepal in February this year – check out the photos!
The films Steve and Lilac Howell produced were to chronicle all that had happened in the last ten years and was still happening, so those kind sponsors back in the UK could witness for themselves how their money and support was helping the children of Nepal.
Sometimes in business and in life, you can get wrapped up in the minutiae, chasing the next project, or watching the bottom line and you forget what it is that got you into what you do in the first place.
We have a real passion for making films, films that communicate a message effectively, whether that’s for a business or organisation in the private or public sector. Once in a while though, a project comes along that allows you to stand back and reflect on the bigger things in life, one that gives you that opportunity to make a real difference by doing what you do every day. Nepal was and continues to be that project…
Here’s one of the films we produced – https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/275225808 and thank you for allowing us to share this little story with you…
