Filming at Head Nepal:

A filming crew from the August Picture T.V. Production House Singapore visited HEAD Nepal from October 9-12, 2011. The main purpose of the crew was to make a film/documentary about the recently running project, the Head Mobile Blind School. The crew consists of four members, the host, the director, an assistance director and camera man. With the arrival of the group at the Simikot airport in the morning of 9th of Nov, HEAD Nepal volunteers and staff including the founder welcomed them with a white scarf, locally called Khata, being put around each of their necks. After having breakfast and rest for sometime at the hotel, the crew started filming at HEAD Nepal’s main central office where the instructor of the Head Mobile Blind School was taking class with 7 children who are visually impaired. The founder/executive director, Chhitup Lama explained about the organization and all the activities of the Head Mobile Blind School. The filming crew filmed how we conduct the classes and how we use the special materials/equipments as well for conducting the class. In addition to it, on the same day, they also filmed at the rented house of Harimaya, a 15 years-old visually impaired girl who is also one of the students in the unit 5 of the Head Mobile Blind School. There the household works and performance of daily living activities for a visually impaired girl were the main interest of filming for the crew. In the same evening, the crew was headed to a house of a 5 years-old partially sighted child called Helen Jethara where they filmed about how we teach very small children with visual impairment performing daily living skills such as brushing teeth, washing, wearing clothes, etc. The founder and the instructor of the HEAD Nepal guided the crew along the way to the village.
The next day, the 10th of October, early in the morning at 8 am, five porters and six horses were arranged because that day the plan was to go to the village called Thehe where Unit 4 of the Head Mobile Blind School was running. The day was quite challenging for the crew members because they had never experienced such a mountain trek and never walked in such a difficult landscape. They had to walk half the way down hill. This was because horse riding to down hill so steeply is very risky. As horse riding was also very new for three of them except the producer, it was very adventurous for them as well. “Though the journey was quite tedious and tiring, it has been the most beautiful trip for me” said the producer. After about 5 hours of walk and horse riding, we arrived at the village where the parents of the children of the Head Mobile Blind School welcomed the crew and the staffs with their very own cultural way. After the heart warming welcoming ceremony and lunch, the crew started filming the class at Unit 4 in the same village. There the main subject of filming was the progress and the improvement that a 15 years young boy, Gorasingh Bohora, has made after he was joined to the Head Mobile Blind School. Actually, he had never been to regular school before. Now he can read and write in Braille. He can also walk independently with the help of a white cane that we provided and taught him to use. The filming crew also filmed how he performs his daily living activities and also how he helps his family in house-hold works. In the same village, the crew also filmed some of the activities of a 15 years-old girl, Gahugora Bohora from the same village. Though she is totally blind, she can do most of the house-hold works like, fetching water from the public tap, cooking for herself and even for her family, collecting fire-wood from the distance, cutting grass for the animals that they keep. But, she never had the chance of school education and literacy before she joined the Head Mobile Blind School. The crew filmed especially how Gahugora cooks for her family. Though the cameraman started filming at her home curiously, due to too much smoke and darkness in the kitchen, it was very difficult for him to continue filming. That night the crew and the staff of Head Nepal slept at a home-stay at the house of Gorasingh Bohora. They enjoyed the food which is locally produced and prepared. The next day early in the morning, after some tea, the producer took an interview with the founder/executive director of Head Nepal on the roof of the house. After having a late breakfast in the village, the crew and the staff and volunteer of Head Nepal started their journey back to Simikot. While departing from the village, there were some drummers who performed their instruments. The sweet and harmonious sound of the drums was meant to be a farewell ceremony for the group. Then each of the group members rode his horse all the way back to Simikot. That day was much more comfortable and relaxing than the previous day due to more up hill passages, where it is much easier to horse ride. After about 4 hours journey, the group arrived at Simikot at 4 pm and everyone including the porters had a nice rest and lunch in the highest quality standard hotel, Sun Valley Resort in Simikot. Then all the porters and horses got back to their own home. On the next day, the 12th of November 2011, the filming crew departed from Simikot with a heart warming farewell by Head Nepal’s staff and volunteers. Now we as Head Nepal are curiously looking forward to the releasing of the film and we also think that the film will remarkably contribute to the communication of our vision and mission all over the world and equally help in the growth and development of the organization and its program.