Dr. Corso is providing excellent help to me as I am in the production phase of my Capstone. He even provided me a helpful portion of his doctoral dissertation to give me additional guidance on my Capstone. I have always had a great deal of respect for Dr. Corso as a professor and that respect has certainly carried over to working with him for my senior project.
Dr. Corso will help me with my framing and producing of this Capstone for the rest of the semester. Then, at the Capstone Showcase on the first weekend of December, he will be in attendance and provide me an overall grade afterwards.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Attempting to Spread the Word about International Adoption
I
plan on entering my documentary in the Spirit Quest Film Festival at Edinboro University and the Peace on Earth Film Festival at the Chicago Culture Center
on March 7-10. The reason for selecting
the Spirit Quest Film Festival is that it is an opportunity for participants to
showcase documentaries which highlight the human experience in everyday
life. This is a perfect opportunity
because my documentary will showcase day-to-day life for the Boyd family.
I also plan on entering my documentary in the Peace on Earth Film Festival as that festival goal is to raise
awareness of peace, nonviolence, social justice and an eco-balanced world. My documentary will enlighten the audience on
the horrors and injustices found in adoption agencies globally; it will also
show how one family in particular gives children a way out of that horrid
life. I believe that would fit perfectly
under that festival’s objective. The
challenges of presenting at both of these festivals are going to be affording
the cost of submitting my documentary and covering travel costs to get to the
festivals.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Through Their Own Eyes
What would this story be without the people who live it each day and someone who has helped many families through the trials and tribulations of international adoptions? These are the three people who have really given me insight to what life is like for these families.
Stephanie and Warren Boyd are the parents who have been on this wild adoption ride since adopting their first two children from Russia in 1999. When a family adopts children from overseas, they receive false documentation of the child or children's medical records. Because no one is responsible for keeping record of their medical history and current disabilities, the family's often have no idea what they are getting into when their child comes home. Many times the records do not tell when the child's date of birth is, let alone with what they are diagnosed.
Mary Graber, who works for a national adoption agency located in Pittsburgh and centered around Russian adoptions, gives professional back up to the information Stephanie and Warren provided for me. Not only does Ms. Graber have her own adopted children, she works with the homecoming of adopted children daily. She provides a credited and professional stance for the information my documentary is presenting.
Together, these sources will provide information about this facet of international adoptions overall, while providing the audience with a family whom with they can connect.
Stephanie and Warren Boyd are the parents who have been on this wild adoption ride since adopting their first two children from Russia in 1999. When a family adopts children from overseas, they receive false documentation of the child or children's medical records. Because no one is responsible for keeping record of their medical history and current disabilities, the family's often have no idea what they are getting into when their child comes home. Many times the records do not tell when the child's date of birth is, let alone with what they are diagnosed.
Mary Graber, who works for a national adoption agency located in Pittsburgh and centered around Russian adoptions, gives professional back up to the information Stephanie and Warren provided for me. Not only does Ms. Graber have her own adopted children, she works with the homecoming of adopted children daily. She provides a credited and professional stance for the information my documentary is presenting.
Together, these sources will provide information about this facet of international adoptions overall, while providing the audience with a family whom with they can connect.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
"This Crew Must Somehow Form a Family"
My capstone takes an in depth look into the lives of the ten Boyd children and the parents who raise them. Warren and Stephanie Boyd were in their late twenties when they found out that they could not have children. Instead of giving up on their dreams of raising kids, they looked into adoption. Not only did they choose this path, they chose to adopt internationally. And not only did they choose to adopt one child, they chose to adopt ten. And not only did they adopt ten, they adopted ten children whom each have a long list of physical and/or mental disabilities.
However, through getting to know them, I realized that no one should feel sorry for the parents nor the children. The Boyd household is bursting with energy, love, and a whole bunch of great food! I was fortunate enough to spend four days at the beginning of July with them and five days at the month's end. I was able to capture everything from what went in to preparing meals for the crew, how the older kids helped immensely in caring for their younger siblings, and what it means to truly love an entire group of children unconditionally.
As I stated earlier in this post, there are ten internationally adopted children. There are six children adopted from Russia, three from Bulgaria, and one from Serbia. The orphanages in their home countries are absolutely atrocious and, quite frankly, inhumane. One of the children from Bulgaria had never even been outside of the orphanage gates during her six years of life. They are prisoners and suffer cruel punishment in which they do not deserve. I will elaborate more on that in future posts.
To conclude this post, I left a huge piece of my heart with the Boyd family this summer. Their story is one that I cannot wait to share with whomever will listen.
However, through getting to know them, I realized that no one should feel sorry for the parents nor the children. The Boyd household is bursting with energy, love, and a whole bunch of great food! I was fortunate enough to spend four days at the beginning of July with them and five days at the month's end. I was able to capture everything from what went in to preparing meals for the crew, how the older kids helped immensely in caring for their younger siblings, and what it means to truly love an entire group of children unconditionally.
As I stated earlier in this post, there are ten internationally adopted children. There are six children adopted from Russia, three from Bulgaria, and one from Serbia. The orphanages in their home countries are absolutely atrocious and, quite frankly, inhumane. One of the children from Bulgaria had never even been outside of the orphanage gates during her six years of life. They are prisoners and suffer cruel punishment in which they do not deserve. I will elaborate more on that in future posts.
To conclude this post, I left a huge piece of my heart with the Boyd family this summer. Their story is one that I cannot wait to share with whomever will listen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)