Coming soon to a movie theatre near you!

As part of my Development Advocate role, I am currently putting together a short video of my work here, which I hope to have ready by Refugee Week in the UK (16-22 June).
VSO UK have provided me with all the necessary equipment, as well as online training about conducting and filming interviews. All that is lacking now is the technical know-how! The camera and the editing software that I have are, I believe, both fairly simple to use, but for someone as technologically reluctant as myself it is proving to be a bit of a challenge.

Thankfully I have the support of my coordinator, who is in his element with all of this. Last week we went out and filmed a few background shots of Mae Sot, which I have been using to have a go at using the editing software. Mid-week I hit crisis point when I could not work out how to take the audio from one piece of footage and superimpose it onto different video footage. I got as far as having two soundtracks going along simultaneously - not quite the effect I was looking for - and then came to a stumbling halt.
As I was tearing my hair out and lamenting "Why did I ever sign up for this?!" my coordinator leaned over and said quietly "Heather, I think you have already bitten off more than you can chew!" I must stop teaching him these English phrases; he quotes them back at me at the most pertinent moments!!

On Sunday, we went to one of the centres where we work, as we thought the peaceful, leafy grounds would provide a pleasant backdrop for our own interview footage. As I was riding along on my motorbike I suddenly thought "I hope there's nothing going on at the temple today - that would put a spanner in the works." (I haven't taught him that one yet!) Sure enough, when I arrived there was a Buddhist sermon being preached loud and clear over the loudspeakers, and it sounded as if it was set to continue for some time...
We changed our plan and went instead to another centre which is nearby. No preaching monks there, just a few teachers and cleaners doing some work in the building calling out to each other occasionally, and the odd aeroplane going over, but mostly it was quiet.

After several attempts (including me failing to press the record button properly at one point, resulting in us "filming" a whole section without filming anything at all!) we managed to get all the footage we wanted, and I then spent the rest of the day cutting it all into useable pieces for the film. Next week we are going to do some filming with the children and teachers at the centres, and then we'll finally be able to put it all together.

In the meantime, here is a little preview of the masterwork. One of the qualities VSO say is essential for their volunteers is a sense of humour - they are not wrong!