I filmed in Guatemala and Nicaragua for Agora, surfed as much as possible in Costa Rica and celebrated my birthday on a horseback (I still can’t sit straight). The road is life and finding time and electricity to edit is always a daily struggle. I now know that soap can’t decrease the not so pleasant odor of my feet, reading Shantaram takes a long long time and playing golf in Spain during my youth did not set a solid foundation for my future ability to speak the language in non English speaking scenarios.

Benjamin and Teddy doing their thing

Two cups of coffee, a quick planning session and location recon later, we headed to a quiet Nairobi side street to see what the performers were cooking up. Through twitter Anto recruited more than a hundred freestylers and breakdancers from various crews to come bring it on, and so they did. Just watching them rehearse we knew something special was about to go down.

Without much time to set it up on location for fear of having the crowd react –and beat the purpose of the flashmob- we went straight for it in the middle of Nairobi’s busiest intersection. Forget about Nairob-me, terrorist threats and corrupt trigger happy cops. We had a blast. After the first take, the boys decided to do it once again, and again, and again, until the sun went down. There were dance-offs, the crowd gathering in a circle, watching the sleek moves of these young dancers giving it all, along with dislocated shoulders and harsh front-flipping bad landings.

So, after three hours of shooting and a marathonic 24 hours of editing by Benjamin, we could show some qwerty love.

In producing a documentary that concerns such delicate subjects of European trade policy, food politics, fragile cultures, eroding landscapes, and tense social issues, including the loss of traditional lifestyles in the face of economic necessity, it is important to state our specific intentions toward the issue.

We have always pitched ourselves as raising awareness about camel milk.

It’s fair to ask the question: Why do non-camel countries need to know about camels?

In parts of the Middle East you will find large dairy cow farms. Imported European breeds are farmed in air-conditioned halls and sprayed with water to keep cool. The rationale is that dairy is an essential part of our diet and such infrastructure should be developed. The motivation is economic investment in a fast-growing new market of potential dairy consumers. The result is a tremendous waste of energy and water in an environment where water is a scarce commodity.

The white elephant in the room here is the camel.

Western ignorance of the fact that camels can be milked without all of this infrastructure, and that they produce milk in 45 degree heat, manifests itself almost farcically in the hundreds of thousands of camels basking in the sunshine outside of the bovine dairy farms.

Passionate engagement in a subject can translate to seeing the world through the lens of that passion. For the WTYSL crew, everything relates to camels: food, culture, climate change, social business, informal markets, food politics, peace and conflict, indigenous peoples, relations between animal and human, social perception, behavioural change, autism, digestion, migration, milk composition, anti-venom creation, pest control strategies, animal disease, fermentation techniques, needs of diaspora communities.

This is far from an exhaustive list. Camels can teach us about the world.

The following is a quick overview of what we do not want to be seen to be doing, and what we would like to achieve in the camel sphere.

we are not promoting the production of camel milk in Europe

we are not promoting the sale of African camels to countries outside of Africa

we are not promoting one specific framework of farming camels

we are not suggesting that everyone should switch from cow to camel milk.

However, we would suggest that:

+ Australia should milk its camel population, instead of culling them and regarding them as a pest. The camel is a natural resource with immense potential. The mindless killing of such animals is a short term (and hugely ineffectual) solution to what is perceived as a problem, but could actually be a profitable industry

+ Camels can be utilised and farmed, and that we don’t have to ascribe to methods used with cows etc, but can rethink and reevaluate these methods in order to truly respect the camel

+ Greater scientific research is pioneered in the fields of camel milk proteins, general composition, and potential medical use

+ Those who could benefit from camel milk (diabetics, autistic children, IBS sufferers) are allowed greater access

+ Freeze/heat drying technologies are extended into regions where camel milk is found in abundance, in order to facilitate the transport of milk in a more hygienic and energy efficient way to population centres.

Finally, in our own filmic endeavours we will continue to work on the many stories we have filmed and now wish to tell.

Amish camel farmers in the US selling milk for $24/litre to parents of autistic children.

The camel herding Raika community in India having the greatest genetic predisposition to Diabetes and yet the lowest rates of the disease out of any Indian community.

The story of camel cheese, an impossible cheese, produced in an impossible place.

Australia: the mass culling of a valuable natural resource of milk and meat, at a time when the world is feeling the burden, not of 1 million camels, but of 7 billion people.

We love camels and we are still learning. If you would like to learn more, contribute your own thoughts or expertise, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

philippa@whattookyousolong.org

Hot Sun Foundation focuses on bringing out a realistic, challenging and positive image of those in the periphery of society. Spreading worthy ideas, both behind and in front of the camera, Kibera makes the Hot Sun shine bright in a part of Nairobi that generally is not that well lit.

Located in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa’s second biggest urban slum, Kibera is currently home to approximately one million people.

The image being represented by international media is a grim one with people living jammed together in shacks, little water, no open space, no toilets, no electricity and no food. This media-represented image is contributing to a viscous cycle and a race down to the bottom for the people of Kibera.

To contrast the negative and unconstructive labeling, Nathan Collett and friends decided to start the Kibera Film School through Hot Sun Foundation. He wants to promote upright and worthy ideas via filmmaking as well as to engage the youth of Kibera in such projects.

In this way Hot Sun Foundation exposes the talents and possibilities of the youth living in the urban slums of Kenya and throughout Africa. It also strengthens the self-esteem and confidence among the film students as well as the people of the slums, many of who possesses so many unexplored talents.

This past week What Took You So Long covered the first global conference for Social Franchising for Health in Mombasa

”Social franchising does what McDonald’s does, but for health care in developing countries. It organizes private providers and sets standards for what they do and makes sure that people visiting a branded clinic get quality health care at an affordable cost” — Dominic Montagu – professor in Global Health

This is Fredrik Rosberg’s brief from his time at the conference:

About 160 people from all over the world attended the Social Franchising for Health conference to share, learn and move towards a goal of creating a standardized framework for elevated health care at an affordable cost for low-income families in the less developed world.

Today, 55 percent of African health care is private sector, and few governmental regulatory systems are able to assure the quality of that private care. There is no private doctor in the world that can provide TB care. There are very few that provide decent ammonia care, and even fewer that provide a whole range of family planning services. So it falls to those with a social conscience working in the sector to step in and find ways to provide decent health-care to the poor in low and middle-income countries.

In this vacuum of regulatory structures, franchising positions itself as an intermediary for private doctors, nurses and other practitioners, setting standards, and supporting delivery of treatments they would not otherwise have access to. It is also important for the maintenance of engagement and motivation to continue providing quality services. If successful, such a shift from government to private health care with limited government supervision could even be the answer to a better health care throughout Africa.

One of the key elements that franchising offers is access to proven systems; and as such reduces the amount of trial-and-error usually associated with launching a new enterprise. A social enterprise start-up kit, provided for the franchisees from day one, aims to make it easier to set up a new clinic within the franchise network. The more health clinics, the more improved health for low and middle-income families in Kenya and other developing countries.

This new social franchising industry for health is still under construction and is far from perfect. For instance, despite these health services being affordable for low and middle-income families, they do not take families living in extreme poverty into account. However, as an income-generating method, there is hope that franchising could provide scope for addressing the health care needs of those living in extreme poverty; if their governments aren’t able to address them first.

By now, people are used to watch ongoing global misfortunes in their homes. The media covers global conflicts, starvation, pollution, deforestation, inequalities, the list is long… This only contributes to a feeling of hopelessness and lack of interest in engaging oneself in these issues. The news is constantly saturated with a cheerless and sad angel (sometimes it reality, sometimes not). In my view this is just coverage or a piece of news that is playing with people´s feelings and guilt.

Does it serve it purpose? I don’t know!

What I know is that the majority of the masses are very aware of what is going on around them, and the more cheerless and sad coverage by the media at large, the more ignored the news is going to be by the common. These kinds of news wont simply affect people anymore as it is probably meant to do. It only works to desensitize people to the real issues.

Good or rather happy news will effect people more and hopefully lead to, or at least be the start of a change of how social change is being viewed today. For as long as I can remember media have tended to sensationalize and sell coverage based on peoples misery. News like that can’t be the only news worth covering.

Media’s attitude towards covering issues like these should shift. Especially in the globalized world we live in today. Biased cheerless media coverage with a global range is a very detrimental and dangerous tool. Something ought to be done! What?

The answer is easy… Cheerful news!

In contrast to the mainstream media coverage The What Took You So Long Organization intends to illuminate and focus on spreading good news; good news about ongoing social changes via filmmaking and at the same time raising the awareness of/through our films and these changes via different social media.

Spreading good news in that way, I believe, will get to the hearts and minds of people and incite a change on a social level and in peoples attitude regarding funding’s and contributions.

Maybe this could even help to abolish the ad hoc aid brand in that way, knowing that there is a real and cheerful change going on somewhere in the world.

By Carolina Bodmer, potential WTYSL intern and atenndee of the Experimental Food Society Spectacular

Camel milk? Really? At first glance this seems to be a rather bizarre subject matter, not to mention an unusual drink to accompany a biscuit. The way this guerrilla style documentary is being screened reflects its idiosyncratic topic – being powered solely by three members of the audience on bicycles hooked up to the laptop, projector and speakers – reminiscent of the main character of the Belleville Rendez-vous.

But this pioneering and compelling documentary exposes camel milk as an extremely valuable and nutritious product, and transports you to a multitude of countries spanning from Kenya, India and Mauritania among others.

Interviewees vouching for its advantages include American camel activists who promote cow’s milk in relation to health improvements witnessed in their children, renowned doctors from international universities, and a local camel milk bar owner, who all profess its great health aspects as well as its growing economic worth.

Accompanied by an apt, upbeat soundtrack that reflects the culture of the exotic locations, this absorbing documentary raises the status of camel milk, challenges its ‘strange’ misconception, and certainly holds your interest in a somewhat unknown subject that writer and co-producer Philippa Young persuasively declares more people need to be made aware of.  You will leave the screening with an unexpected knowledge of camel milk and with a strong craving to try a glass and tell everyone you know about it.

So early the next morning, a six man team of Sebastian, Alicia, Joel, Doug, Kazungu and I made our way to the Hells Gate, excited and anxious for the task ahead. To our disappointment, we delayed a lot and missed an opportunity to film the sunrise, thanks to the gate keeper who was late. Once in, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery littered with antelopes, giraffes and other wild game that were barely 500 metres into the park. We managed some epic shots of the scenery including some at the gorge. After about two and a half hours of filming and wowing at the beauty of our current surrounding, it was time to leave for our next destination, Narok.

The road from Naivasha to Narok is well tarmac and so it was not such a massive challenge to get there. This was the second location for surveys, filming and pre-orders. Our contact was a ‘flashy’ Maasai gent involved a lot in community activities within the area. Although we managed to conduct the whole process, we were frustrated as we did not manage to get shots of any of the athletes from the area. Narok County has produced some of the best athletes in the World including Daniel Rudisha, father to the current World 800m record holder David Lekuta Rudisha, former 800M champion Billy Konchellah as well as Africa’s 3000m Steeplechase champion Richard Mateelong among others. One unique encounter that startled us was of an elderly Maasai who offered three hundred thousand shillings in exchange for Mobius Two, on the spot! How amazing.

Three hours hours later, we were on our way to Bomet. Here, we stopped for a fairly good amount of time to film time lapses and the stretch of road before sunset and embarked on our journey to our abode that was supposed to be Litein. But driving in rainy conditions, coupled with miscommunication, we found ourselves in Kericho, having passed our shelter for the night with more than 35 Kilometres. We opted for plan B which was check into a local hotel, snacked for dinner and called it a day. Kericho which is arguably the coldest town in Kenya. The morning started slowly but caught momentum late morning, early afternoon. Our Peace Corp contact was really resourceful in helping identify survey people as well as some potential buyers. We also managed some filming within the town. After lunch, we were back on track destined for Kisumu.

It’s also great to discover places I haven’t been to in my own country.  But believe you me, every day I look forward to something more exiting, inspiring and unplanned moments

In the afternoon we headed to Kisumu, a much larger town (and also the place that Danielle would apparently transfer to if she extends her Peace Corps by another year- a good sign about Kisumu I thought) on the edge of Lake Victoria. We stayed in a gorgeous house with a huge garden owned by a lady called Hanna through Sebastian.  She is part of Kenya’s small but strong Swedish community. Unfortunately Hanna was away while we stayed there but we set up camp in the two bedrooms. While the Mobius Two team spent the evening welding and fixing a couple of minor glitches a few of us went out to sample Kisumu’s finest nightlife. Hanna put us in contact with three girls from Kisumu who took us to Laughing Buddha and another club that’s relatively new. After navigating our way home by tuk tuk it had been a great night out… though the next morning was very early. Alicia managed to capture some key content of a tuk tuk driver before we left Kisumu and we managed to all play a couple of round of ultimate frisbee, using the garden space to the full as we waited for all the clothes we washed that morning to dry.

In the afternoon we made our way to Bungoma, taking a short cut along a newly recarpeted road- an utter novelty in Kenya. We arrived in the evening and were met by Rosie who works at an NGO called One Acre Fund, who generously let us stay in one of the guesthouses on their compound. After a late dinner with some of the One Acre Funders we slept well and in the morning the crew captured some footage of farmers and other local people going to the market using Mobius Two.

Our next stop was Kakamega, a town that borders a beautiful equatorial rainforest reserve. David from One Acre Fund whom we’d met the night before met us at a girl’s boarding school where he introduced us to our host for the night, a man called Wilson who works with One Acre Fund and is the country director of an NGO called Village Enterprises. While Joel, Sebastian, Alicia and Doug went to play golf for the remainder of the afternoon the rest of us went to Wilson’s house and set up camp in his front garden and got talking to him and his wife Nancy. That evening they killed two chickens for us and we helped cook lots of local greens and some mega ugali. The only the person who could successfully stir the entire pot was one of Wilson’s son’s friends. Kakamega was one of the best nights of the trip so far as we all got sit around the camp fire and spend time with one another as well as our friendly and very talkative hosts. We ended the evening with beers and campfire singing, with our rendition of Country Road sounding enthusiastic but not as elegant in comparison to some of the Luhya hymns that were sung for us.

The next morning was another early 5am start. Unfortunately we missed the sun initially coming up so it was already light when we got to the rainforest but the misty morning light amongst the rainforest trees and sounds and watching the tea pickers start their work at 7am were some of the most evocative scenes I’d seen yet and we got some great shots of the car coming through the roads.

We left Kakamega around lunchtime and on our way to Nakuru we wound through mountains and hills that actually reminded me of England, as this part of Kenya is so lush and green so the panoramic views from the hills are of patchwork green fields interspersed with tiny farms and villages. Our back-up vehicle the Prado broke down a little outside of Eldoret where we’d stopped for lunch as the radiator had a small hole in it, probably from a stone kicked up from some of the bumpier roads we’d travelled along. We stopped for nearly three hours while the Prado got tended to by our engineering team. Locals  sat down on the side of the road to watched and decided we were more interesting than what they’d previously been doing.  Mobius Two is winning so far in the Prado:Mobius breakdown ratio.

Due to the breakdown we arrived at our next stop, Nakuru, at night again and met our next host Samuel who took us to his house a little outside of Nakuru town where we stayed for the night. His very cute daughter Stacey kept us company as we ate dinner and had some meetings to discuss our next steps. In the morning we visited a girl’s boarding school where Samuel’s wife Joyce works. The school currently has 26 girls attending Form 1, most of whom are IDP’s from political violence from the last general election. Before lunch we packed up and Mobius Two went to a workshop in town where the three car people spent the day making some more adjustments in a workshop and we said a hearty thank you to Samuel and Stacey before moving on to another hostel for the remainder of Day 8.

It was a great start to our journey from Mombasa through Kilifi to Ganze, our first official location for community interaction on the new Mobius Two. It reminded us all that this is the town that inspired the idea that is now Mobius Two, as the creator Joel was working here when he had the idea to design a completely new sort of car. This latest African innovation made heads turn in awe everywhere we visited. Its design, coupled with the uniqueness of its features, attracted an assortment of reactions from would-be buyers, other motorists and general public in equal measure. It must have stood out as a well-thought innovation as a solution to Africa’s need for mobility in poor and wanting road network with special emphasis on the off-road infrastructure.

We were well received in Ganze and managed to complete our visit in a record two and a half hours. (We anticipate that the other towns will follow this trend if not be more organized). We were back on the road targeting Voi before sunset, but luck was not on our end as our backup car broke done about 40kilometres from Voi. With the help of a good Samaritan, we managed to tow the car to Voi, of course after oiling their hands. In Africa, nothing is really free!

Day two was majorly spent ‘preparing’ Mobius Two for the journey ahead. We left Voi minutes after three o’clock driving towards Nairobi. The journey was interspersed with shots along Mombasa road. During day three of our two week journey, we managed the longest stretch of our journey so far. From Mtito Andei and through Nairobi, our entourage was headed for Mai Mahiu and the epic surroundings of the Great Rift Valley. We managed to capture shots of the Great Rift and hope to catch the morning sun from Hell’s Gate, a scenic site in the Rift Valley. Now we are resting at the local YMCA.

Generally, its been great so far. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Mobius Two has behaved! It did not disappoint. It’s not like we expected any ‘unbecoming behaviour’. But think of the mindset of a car made in Africa for Africa. Anyone would be forgiven to judge that it would not stand the test of time. I look forward to more exciting adventures as we discover and showcase Mobius Two.