It’s finally here: the trailer from our first documentary film. We started this journey just about a year ago. This film, which was made for Life In Abundance and produced by Rule29 and MacDonald Productions, shares the stories and struggles of the street children of the Merkato Slums and shows what LIA is doing to bring hope to the approximately 50,000 children that live on the streets of Ethiopia’s capital. To purchase a copy of the film, go to the LIA store. All money that is raised goes to support the program and the continued work being done by Life In Abundance. For some of the behind the scene photos, check here.

Tell us what you think of the trailer, ask us any questions, or let us know if you want to host a screening.

We greatly admire anyone or any organization that serves to change the human condition for the better. Our next guest is doing both in a way that literally empowers communities and saves lives. Dr. Florence Muindi, President and Founder of one of our favorite organizations, Life In Abundance, is a highly educated doctor and missionary serving the poorest of the poor in the most marginalized communities in eastern Africa. I’m humbled when I’m around her, and the whole team at Rule29 is honored to be a part of the work she started in the rural and urban slums of Africa. Please enjoy this interview and come back soon to see the LIA documentary trailer we created for the film we shot in Ethiopia this past spring.

1: When did you know that you wanted to be a doctor?
My interest started in elementary school, but I made the decision in high school.

2: Where did you go to medical school?
University of Nairobi, Kenya.

3: Have you done any other schooling?
Yes; a Master in Public Health, Disaster Management, Disaster Preparedness and Humanitarian Response, Health Provision to large populations and program design, Community-based health care facilitation, Professional Counseling, Urban Poor Theology, Pastoral Care.

4: Why did you decide to practice something other than curative medicine?
I wanted to take the preventive approach.

5: Where do you live?
Each year has been different for the last 15 years. It’s been many different locations in Kenya, the USA, and in Ethiopia. Home has been where the children are going to school. That is tricky now since the children are split – college in PA for Jay and Boarding High School for Kyalo in Kenya. Festus and I move around quite a bit and most of the time in separate trips. For 30% of the time, home is Kenya; the other 70% is made up of travel times in the other LIA Africa countries, the USA, and other various places.

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The day started off well, with a great breakfast of pancakes, Nutella and peanut butter cooked by our ever-so-gracious hosts. After filling our bellies and loading up the van once again with all of our equipment, we made our trip to the slums. I was especially excited for today because we would be following and interviewing Samrawit. We met Samrawit a couple days ago when she came to the LIA compound for English and math lessons. It was her who approached us. She was more than eager to practice her English and take pictures with the visitors. We saw it right away, this girl was smart and assertive. There was something special about Samrawit.

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This day started normal enough. We got up, met as a team, prayed, had breakfast, went over our shooting schedule and tried to get the best footage possible. Had I known that the previous night would change me forever, I may have questioned my desire to hurry and get back to the slums. For  more on that…read on.

Today was another exciting day of interviews. Similar to Fikadu and the day before, we were visiting another “graduate” of the street kids program Habtimu. And like the day before we are going into an exposed setting within the Mercato market. Pick pockets, extreme poverty, merchants, drugs, and potential issues lurking around every corner for a large film crew trying to be inconspicuous. Once again we had a police escort that gave us a small sense of security, but we are warned to stay in a tight pack and to watch each other’s backs. Going to Habtimu’s house was a humbling experience. I had met Fikadu and Habtimu the year before and seeing them still doing so well and having their own home is such an amazing and exciting thing to witness. While filming Habtimu at his house you could sense his pride and self confidence of being “off the streets” and living a more empowered life. One of the coolest parts of the interview was listening to his dreams of singing and helping others like him, and listening to him sing a song he had written. We then followed him to the market and filmed where he used to sleep on the street, and we filmed him doing one of his jobs, which was shoe shining. As the crowds gathered and we started to get a little nervous because of the scene we were making (picture here) I scanned the crowd and there THEY were. The boys I had met that morning, around 2am to be exact. I was shocked on how I had to suddenly hold back the tears because I was overcome with relief that they were there, in front me, alive and curious as to what was going on. At this point, let me switch to what some of the crew experienced from 12:00-3:00am earlier that day….

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Day 5 in Africa…

Day 5 began early for a few of us who went to film Dereje’s goodbye and trip back to Addis. Dereje usually leaves much earlier on Monday mornings due to construction, but since he was going to ride back with us today, he was more than happy to depart from his family a little later.

At 6 am we made our way through the sleepy streets of Debre Berhan passing the morning commuters still wiping the sleep from their eyes. Dereje’s neighborhood much the same; quiet with only the sounds of a lone rooster and tiny birds filling the morning air. It was a gorgeous morning.
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