Q When did you decide to take action?
A It has always been in the back of my mind, but it was about the right timing. It was right after the film festival and I wanted to film this experience. I wanted to do something that hadn’ t been done before.
Q Recount what it was like when you first landed in Kathmandu, Nepal
A I was waiting in line and gave my passport [ to airport officials ] and they asked for a visa. At that point my heart started beating fast. I did so much to get here and now I don’ t have a visa. But luckily it was possible to get a visa on arrival so I got the visa. I got my luggage and was expecting that my tour guide would meet me outside, but my flight was delayed and no one was there. I didn’ t have a local number and no access to the internet so I couldn’ t contact him. I crossed the road and then I saw my name on a green sign and my tour guide greeted me with a scarf and took me to the hotel.
Q What challenges did you face in Nepal?
A The biggest challenge was being completely alone. Not having internet connection and not having electricity
16 Society
to charge my phone or my camera; in Nepal they only have electricity for 12 hours a day. I don’ t mind leaving the hotel and taking a walk, but the tour guide told me to stay in the hotel while we were in Kathmandu. It was completely silent in the hotel, so I decided to look at the view. I thought,‘ I’ m here in Kathmandu, the capital, and I’ m bored. What am I going to do in the village?’ I started to regret not bringing a friend with me. I began to plan for my film.
Q Why did you choose Nepal and not somewhere else?
A I’ ve always cared about poverty and I wanted to help, but never actually had a concrete chance to help. This was a chance for me to physically help and to gather footage to raise awareness about this issue. When I told my friends about this they said I was crazy. Even if my friends wanted to come, I probably wouldn’ t want to go with my friends. It would take away from the experience. When I was there and took grasp of things I thanked God that I came here alone because it was the only way I could actually take full advantage of the trip.
Q What did you do in the village of Bandipur?
A I like the community that was there. I was working in the Learning Center and I was interested in teaching film. The kids would come outside of my room ten minutes before class and ask to go to the Learning Center. They knew my name by the second day. They would go to the Learning Center in the morning for English and Mathematics and then they go to school and return in the afternoon for help with homework. The best way I saw that I could help was to completely give all that I can in the two hour classes each day. Generally, the whole trip was very nice and by the end of it I was thinking about when I was going to come back again. Two of my friends went to Nepal as a result of hearing about my experience. One of them went to the same village I stayed in and the children were asking about me. When I was there, they had computers so I was teaching them how to type and we set up emails for them. A lot of them still send emails to me.
Q How can we eradicate poverty?
A It’ s raising awareness about the issue. If people know about the issue, then subconsciously they would want to help. That was part of the reason I wanted to film this experience because I wanted people to see it and then think about helping. People who have power need to put [ ending poverty ] as a priority. They have power, they have a voice, they have people who follow them. They need to find out ways to solve it.
Q What advice would you give to children and young adults who want to make a meaningful difference to society?
A A lot of times, throughout my life, I want to do [ something ] but I think I can’ t because that’ s something adults do. There’ s this barrier between what the youth can do. My advice would be to try. If you have an idea or something you want to do, then just try. People will start to believe in you