11th Hour screening - T2F Karachi

I just got back from an amazing screening event tonight, where we showed the 11th hour documentary to a group of about 40 individuals, mixed old and young.



I can see the impact the session had on everyone, as the discussions were really in depth. People got passionate about what kind of practises are going on in Pakistan right now, and what can be done to improve things.

We invited DEAL Pvt Ltd to lead the discussion and talk about their upcoming campaign called "Don't Mess with Karachi" as well to discuss the ways in which they are working with the government to both clean up the city, and educate the people, predominately the youth, on how to effectively dispose of, and recycle garbage.



All in all, it was a great session, and we are looking forward to continuing to host such powerful and meaningful discussions.

Story of Stuff - Unilever Pakistan on World Environment Day

Why should I care about stuff?

This was the question of the hour on June 5th, recognized around the world as Environment day. As part of the celebrations, Unilever Pakistan ran a series of events around raising awareness about the environment.

In a city of 15 million people, with no real effective waste disposal system to speak of, and having been confronted with massive oil spills, risks of Dengue and Bird Flu outbreak, needless to say, it is a city faced with a myriad of challenges. Challenges that organizations like Unilever Pakistan are hoping to address.

On this day, Unilever invited me to give a presentation on the Story of Stuff to their staff. While designing the session we came up with a great idea to engage the crowd in a solution finding activity. So after Introducing myself, and getting a few comments from the crowd about a proactive solution finding approach to the environment, I showed the Documentary.



The reactions came with an applause and comments of awe from the crowd as sparks of Aha moments went off in their minds.

We quickly captured that moment into world-cafe style groups and had them brainstorm solutions on how to improve the impact that Unilever and themselves as individuals can make on the environment.

The output was prepared and here are 3 of many solutions that came out.

"Endorse products of companies that are environmental friendly"

"Move to a Paper-less Office"

"Buy organic products, and use biodegradable materials in packaging"

The success of the event was so great that now Unilever Pakistan has set up screenings of Story of Stuff at all their warehouses and factories!

One small event can really have a huge impact :)

Thats Damu baby

Why should I care? The reality behind youth - Paris, France

29.05.2008
Youth involvement in society - DAMU event in Paris

For the first time since the production of "Why should I care?" in 2005 a member of the DAMU network, Matthias Scheffelmeier, was present in France to facilitate a discussion around the topic of the importance of youth involvement in society. Organised by the Swiss Pavillon Association the event took place at the cité de la université in the south of Paris. 40 people followed the invitation and gathered at the Fondation Suisse. After a short introduction and the screening of the 30 minute movie people had the chance to discuss the idea of inspiring youth to become more active in society and connecting them to organisations and existing projects and activities that help them doing so. The 2 hour discussion brought up a range of interesting points and helped the participants understand the complexitiy of youth involvement and youth empowerment in general. Even though the discussion didn't pursue the goal of coming to one particular conclusion one can say that if there is something that everyone agreed on its probably the fact, that the involvement of youth in society is of universal importance. It is not limited to Kenya (where the movie "why should I care?" was shot) or any other country, but needs to be addressed throughout the world.

We owe a big "Merci" to Ayfer Cengiz and Melanie Gerber for the organisation of the event and want to thank everyone for coming and a great discussion.
If you have any questions please write to Matthias at mscheffelmeier@hotmail.com
Thank you Paris!

Some impressions