The Colombian Migration Experience

Note: Proposal may undergo some adjustment in response to questions and discussion from steering group.

name: Maria Gomez

email: mareago@gmail.com

url: diariodeviaje

SUMMARY

My project is an attempt to use videoblogging as a medium for connecting the migratory experiences and testimonials of Colombian immigrants in NYC with Colombians in Colombia who are actively looking for a way to migrate. What are their reasons to leave their country and what are their expectations?

BUDGET

US$2,100 Total

$400 Transportation

-- half my ticket to Colombia

$310 Fieldwork expenses

-- being able to offer my interviewees a meal, a coffee, a drink

-- transportation within Colombia

$290 Equipment

-- tapes

-- microphone

-- editing software (Vegas)

$1000 Time

-- translation and subtitling

-- editing

• Addition by Maria's advocate, Dave Huth:

$100 PayPal fees

-- PayPal takes a (reasonable) percentage of the money raised, so for Maria to get the full $2000 she needs, we'll have to raise a bit extra.

DESCRIPTION

The vlog will be a document containing two kinds of interviews: Colombians wishing to move abroad explaining their lives and expectations, and Colombian immigrants in NYC talking about the reality of their experience.

First I will post 8 NYC interviews, and then I will post 8 Colombia interviews. I think it can give some insight when the document is complete.

Economic crisis and globalization are having an impact on the lives of people in Colombia. Some interviewees will talk about the political aspect of their experience and I will create a video explaining these issues broadly. I also want to include a page in the vlog with relevant info about the colombian exodus, some statistics, and some newspaper articles.

TIMELINE and SCHEDULE

The project will have a duration of four months. I will post an interview every week from the moment the project starts (aprox. Nov. to Feb.) for a total of 16 video interviews.

The NYC interviews are being conducted and edited now, and that footage will be complete when I leave for Colombia. While I'm in Colombia I will be posting a NYC video each week, while shooting and editing Colombia interviews.

Before I go: Introduction video explaining the issues facing many Colombian immigrants (I am one!); shooting and editing in NYC

November 2006: Begin travel by flying to Colombia

Week 1: Post NYC interview #1, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 2: Post NYC interview #2, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 3: Post NYC interview #3, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 4: Post NYC interview #4, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 5: Post NYC interview #5, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 6: Post NYC interview #6, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 7: Post NYC interview #7, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 8: Post NYC interview #8, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 9: Post Colombia interview #1, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 10: Post Colombia interview #2, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 11: Post Colombia interview #3, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 12: Post Colombia interview #4, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 13: Post Colombia interview #5, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 14: Post Colombia interview #6, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 15: Post Colombia interview #7, shooting and editing in Colombia

Week 16: Post Colombia interview #8, shooting and editing in Colombia

February 2007: End travel by returning to NYC

After I return: Conclusion video describing my exerience and how successful I was in reaching my goals for the project

GOALS

I want to collect 16 life stories and simply put them out there so they can be heard and understood. I want to create a document of a current phenomenon both triggered by the economic crisis in Colombia and by the effects of globalization in which people tend to become more and more transnational. Each video will be approximately 4 minutes long.

The interviews will have a creative commons license so other people can use the material for academic or artistic purposes.

Note from Maria's Advocate (Dave Huth)

Immigration to the U.S. from Latin America is having a powerful effect on the economy, society, and political discourse of both regions. This project is a chance to hear from people at the heart of this migratory movement.

I'm excited about this issue because I live in a county where many Latin American immigrants live and work, but their voices are not part of the public conversation. This is a chance for the voices and experiences of people who contribute to our communities to be documented and heard.

I think Maria is worthy of support because of her close connection to and understanding of the issues involved (she is from Colombia herself and is part of the immigrant community in New York City), and because of her training in anthropology and ethnographic methods. She understands the rigors of field work and careful documentation.

This vlog has the potential to start Maria on the road to a much larger documentary project. In our e-mail correspondence, she wrote: "I think I will be working on this for the next year or so... it is an amazing exploration of my own experience." She is already shooting interviews near her home in NYC. If the Colombian portion of the vlog is funded, she could expand it in the future into an important, detailed record of the lives of regular people moved by powerful social and economic forces.

All she needs is $2000 as necessary support to make her project happen. She's already done a lot of legwork on the NYC portion of the interviews. I would really like to see the rest of her vision funded.

Draft for promotion page on Web site

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