When Fiction Meets Fact

Kent
New York, NY
visionary

A writer goes through regular bouts of mental blockage all throughout his or her career, that dreaded phase of the writer’s process wherein he or she goes through an instantaneous, dark corner in his or her mind when no words seem to cohere together and all attempts at cleaving meaningful ideas turn out empty.

As much as writer’s block could be a very difficult hurdle to overcome, there are fateful instances when they also serve as sources of inspiration for the struggling writer. In the case of Kent, a newly-published fiction writer, the obstruction went well beyond writer’s block. It was a chasm so wide and deep that stretched out for more than a decade of Kent’s life. But it was for this very hiatus from writing that actually molded Kent to become more productive with the pen.

Kent has always loved writing, be it poetry and prose about love, war, death, growing up, and just about everything that fascinated him in his teenage years. When he reached 17, writing turned to passion from a mere hobby especially after he met and eventually dated this girl who shared a little, private game with him wherein she would spontaneously mention any scenario and Kent would have to come up with a story based on that scenario. Their little game inspired Kent to write more and more, and then one eventful day, the scenario she blurted out was “a boy in the desert and he doesn’t know how he got there.”

It was that very moment that Misha was born.

Misha is the story that Kent drew up in his mind ever since that day, and some of his family and close friends would eventually know about this boy in the desert who didn’t know how he got there and the adventure that would follow him as soon as he discovers where he is. The story lived inside Kent’s head for a while, but as the years passed by and life just took its regular toll, Misha faded deep into the recesses of Kent’s subconscious, and along with it vanished his passion for writing.

Years and years flew by, and Kent found himself climbing the corporate ladder where he worked mostly for the fashion and jewelry industries in New York. About a year ago, while he was pretty much enjoying his daily routine surrounded by family, friends, and colleagues, Kent’s life took a sudden turning point – he was fired from his managerial job. It was the first time for him to ever undergo such a tough blow, especially that it was a job he thoroughly enjoyed and he knew he excelled at. The circumstance got Kent spiraling down a place where he had never been to before, a dark place that abounded in confusion, despair, and loss.

Yet, something inside Kent brought a flicker of light amidst the darkness. He recounts that phase of sheer isolation and smiles as he says, “But in that confusion, I had to find a place in myself, and I started thinking, ‘Okay, I’m not happy. I got fired, you know this is not good.’ So I was a couple of weeks like this. And then I thought to myself, ‘Okay, Kent, think of a time when you were happy.’ So I started going back to all of my happiest days — when I got married, when my nephew, Tennessee, was born, when Lisa (his little sister) was born… all the happiest days of my life. And then I remembered a span of time that wasn’t just a happiest day, but a time, like a time period. And in that time period, I remembered that I used to love writing.”

After finding the courage to accept his painful loss, and then realizing that with it came hope, Kent started to pick up his pen once again. With this newfound self-motivation, he finally created the story of Misha that has always been with him all along. Right after he made his epiphanous discovery, Kent took his mother, his wife, and his little sister to dinner and declared to them his intention of becoming a published writer. He believed that if he really wanted this enough, he had to declare it to those whom he loved as that would push him even more to really make it happen.

Six months after that momentous dinner with the women in his life, Kent was holding in his hands his very first published book ever, “Misha: The Desert.” Another six months passed by and then his second book, “Misha: The Island” was published. As of recent, Kent is now working on his third book, “Misha: The City.” Kent convicts that it took more than half his life to finally push him to just write the one story he always wanted to write, but he sees now that the timing was perfect. And from the darkness of something, he is humbled to come out to something amazing, as well.

Kent currently works at another fashion-related company during the day, but at least with this job, it affords him a lot more spare time to write. I tried to ask him if Misha was, in a way, a character based on his own life. Kent mischievously affords me a wink and a grin and explains that he can’t even really say if Misha is the boy or if it’s the place. I chuckle for a bit and realize that he’s right. If I want to find out, I guess I’ll have to experience the story myself by reading the books, just as Kent lived through his own life first before he could finally build the fantasy world he’s always dreamed of.

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A note from *the storyteller:
1. Misha: The Desert and Misha: The Island are available for purchase online at Barnes and Noble. Click on this link to find out more: the Misha adventure series
2. Kent’s full interview can be streamed here: Story by Kent

The Role of a Lifetime

Steve
New Jersey
helping

Steve, very early on in his life, always had this desire to help people in need. The arts has been a passion of his, too, particularly with film and theatre, and he has always dreamed of dedicating his life in the service of those needing assistance the most, preferably if it could involve something with media. Little did he know that one day, after a long, hard road, he would get to forge both of these passions and truly make the kind of difference in this world that he’s always envisioned.

Like most people though, Steve set aside his dreams for a bit and took the safe route. After garnering an MBA in Harvard in the 90s, Steve set out to advance his career in Marketing with American Express. At the same time, he was enjoying life with his partner of 15 years who was a social worker for an AIDS-based Nonprofit Organization. Steve felt that albeit he was not directly working in Nonprofit, his partner’s involvement in one kept Steve’s dream of helping others alive.

Sadly, his partner passed away some time later in the decade, and not only was it a painful loss, his partner’s death also made Steve feel that his family unit that saved the world perished as well. After a while, Steve finally realized that it was high time to make those dreams happen. He left his promising career in the leading financial institution in search of one that would grant him the opportunity to harness his potential and really help those in need.

The journey to reaching that one dream job took quite awhile for Steve to reach. Nonetheless, it was a stimulating and valuable journey that took him to several companies that heavily dealt with media, and a couple of them engaged in the nonprofit sector, likewise. He was able to discover the power of film and what it could do to help the less fortunate throughout those years, which eventually led him to the ultimate designation…

Whenever the words “genocide” and “calamities” come to mind, it’s but natural to imagine assistance going to the affected areas in the guise of the Red Cross, UNICEF, and the United Nations. After all, these are the same organizations that provide the refugees with food, clothing, shelter, and all the other necessities that they need to rebuild their lives once again.

However, there is one organization that works toward helping the refugees of war-torn countries in Africa such as Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, and Uganda deal with something more unquenchable than physical nourishment, and that is where Film Aid International comes in.

Steve got on board Film Aid as its Executive Director since last year and it has been one amazing experience for him ever since. Film Aid lives by its mission: Projecting Hope and Changing Lives Through the Power of Film, a statement of such substantial value for an organization that is empowering the displaced and the desperate, one film at a time.

Steve explains that Film Aid basically screens films at refugee camps in Africa for the purposes of inspiring the refugees and giving them some form of solace in their distressful situations. These films are not just solely intended for its entertainment value, more importantly they educate the refugees with matters that need the most attention – HIV prevention, malaria detection and cure, ending the exploitation of women, and so much more.

The films greatly brighten the refugees’ lives, giving them a chance to mingle with one another in a communal setting. Film Aid takes the service ten notches higher by instilling a program that grants refugees the opportunity to make and shoot the films themselves, with the training and equipment provided by Film Aid, of course.

Steve could not have defined it any better as he said, “The common thread is the impact that film can have on people and how it can improve their lives whether it be their psychosocial well-being, to the entertaining aspects of seeing a film together, to their creation of films that gives them information that saves their lives like how to prevent HIV or how to avoid getting malaria. When they make the film themselves, it makes everyone else appreciate it more because it’s not like someone from the US with a film degree is talking about these malaria nets. Rather it’s someone among their fellow refugees, in their language who respects their culture, talking to them about the need or impact about what a malaria net can do to help.”

In the near future, it is Steve’s biggest hope that Film Aid will expand beyond refugee camps and work with people in other dire situations around the world using film and video. For now, his focus is to gather more awareness for the work that Film Aid does and let people realize that film is indeed a very mighty tool in bringing about hope and change in this world.

The refugees may not get the ultimate theatre experience like most movie going audiences — leather-cushioned seats, airconditioning, free-flowing popcorn — but each scene that projects onto the wide screen is enough to give them assurance that life does go on after war and disaster, and with people like Steve around, happy endings are not just for the movies.

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notes from *the storyteller:
1. If you wish to make a donation or help Film Aid in any other way, please feel free to visit: Film Aid donor page
2. To hear Steve’s full length interview, you can click on this link: Story by Steve Enjoy!

Designing Creativity

Kamau
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
innovator

With his first name rooted in the Kenyan term, “Kikuyu” which means “Quiet Warrior,” Kamau possesses a calm, warrior-like prowess indeed, especially when he is doing what he is most passionate about – photography and event designing.

The latter is what Kamau dedicates his life to for the most part, having designed and produced events for over ten years for private companies and non profit organizations in the arts and culture industries. His major project as of today is to aid the Brooklyn Artists Gym (BAG), an artist studio and gallery facility in Park Slope that aims to provide easy access and a community-based space for a wide range of Artists in Residence. In congruence with BAG’s mission of helping make it possible for artists to further their work and careers at a reasonable cost, Kamau endeavors to use his skill and passion to organize and execute a successful fundraising event for this esteemed organization.

Like the warrior carefully assessing the surroundings from all sides before making the big attack, Kamau has come highly prepared for the initial brainstorming with the director and the creative staff behind BAG. Over a banquet of pizza, salad, and wine, Kamau’s first strategy is getting the BAG team to participate in an Idea Workshop, wherein members of the team personally and collectively pitch in their concerns and suggestions on certain bullet points for the proposed fundraiser. It is not only an exercise in sharing ideas, but mostly it is giving the team, and Kamau most especially, a chance to fully re-orient themselves with what the organizations is truly about and how can they, as a community and as individuals further progress the goals of BAG.

Kamau’s fervor for event designing manifests in his energy as he leads the team in putting out ideas and talking points. Over the course of his career, he has come to realize that a lot of the things that develop human beings and even civilizations revolve around specific events that have been carefully planned out. But what is most gratifying to him is how a lot of unexpected things take place at these events he has helped design, particularly in his hometown of Pittsburgh where he organized this poet/musician gathering called “Midnight Espresso.” In these sessions, random people with common interests have met up, and to Kamau’s amusement, many of them eventually hooked up, got married, or collaborated on more major projects.

That is why Kamau has kept the flame burning with what he does as it has helped him see the meaning of community at a more heightened level of awareness, especially with the core group of people he directly works with in coordinating these events with all these institutions, small-scale and massive alike. At the long, rectangular table at the BAG office, Kamau is pleased to see the influx of ideas and reactions among the team, even when a lot of the concerns raised do seem like the challenge to financing this event might be a lot bigger than they would like to think. But Kamau is not one to get discouraged easily. The quiet warrior within knows that no event fueled with the right amount of passion and perseverance is too impossible to execute. He eyes the team one by one and gives them a friendly reminder that by this gathering alone, they have already accomplished a very big step.

Kamau beams with pride as he explains what event designing truly means to him, “Today’s meeting at the Brooklyn Artists Gym was an event. There wasn’t any ticket price, no music, no DJ, but people were connecting and laughing and joking, and drinking and eating. They were participating and creating this visual that represented the brainstorming session…so even in creating an event I like to think and be purposeful about the events that make the events. So I think that before I get to the events that help me do some good, I make sure that everything along the way in the creative process is also fulfilling.”

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A note from *the storyteller: Kamau’s blog is also a constant source of inspiration. Please check it out: Depth of Field

Driven

Martha
San Salvador, El Salvador
transporter

In New York, nothing could be more indispensable than three things relating to transportation: the subway, messenger bikes, and taxi cabs.

What one hardly finds though among these modes of transport is that not many females operate these vehicles. Could it be that females drive less faster than their males counterparts? Martha doesn’t believe so. After driving her own black, Lincoln cab for over three years, she has observed that women utility drivers are just as rapid on the wheels as the men, and a whole lot more cautious, too.

Martha became a cabbie three years ago when she had to fend for herself after the sudden loss of her husband whom she totally relied upon for over thirty years. A relative had suggested driving a cab as a potential livelihood, and the initially reluctant Martha agreed upon it after realizing that it was the one job which allowed her to be her own boss.

Starting out was very difficult for Martha though, not just because of the nature of the job but mostly because the male drivers stationed by the Brooklyn Mall were giving her a hard time. They were very aggressive and unaccommodating, a lot of times she would see her would-be passengers taken away from her by the other drivers who would cut in front of her lane. Several times she also found her regular waiting spot occupied by another driver who would completely ignore her pleas of letting her have her spot back.

The awful treatment she was getting from the men would have been enough to drive any driver to a state of road rage. Martha, however, refused to reciprocate the same hostile attitude to her fellow cabbies. She realized the only way to get in the game was to befriend these other cab drivers and really get to know them better. It took a while for her to get them to accept her, but slowly, one by one, they each warmed up to her and began to treat her like one of the guys. She even went as far as feeding them with her home-cooked delicacies, gaining her the respect she yearned, as well as the sheer admiration she totally deserved.

Soon enough, the cab drivers by the Brooklyn Mall became this close-knit family, and Martha, with whom the men fondly call, “Mami,” has learned to appreciate her job even more. Just like the rest of them, the skyrocketing gas price has greatly affected her daily operations, but at the end of the day, Martha feels thankful of her job as a cab driver.

“Driving is a very hard job,” Martha remarked. “But it’s also a good job because I get to talk to interesting people all the time, and I forget my problems and worries. And it’s also fun to share stories with my boys as to how their own travels went for the day. We each have funny stories to tell to one another all the time.”