Tour a Cold War Era Atlas Missile Silo
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Education, Interesting Places, Tim Frakes Productions, Travel
Along a lonely stretch of blacktop in rural, Central Texas, my friend Larry Sanders takes me on a tour of a partially restored Atlas missile site.
At the height of the Cold War, Curtis Lamay and the Strategic Air Command, built and deployed the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System.
Tags: Abilene, Atlas Missile, Cold War, Silo, Texas, Tim Frakes Productions, Video
Understanding Waste Water Treatment
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Education, Non-Profit, Stewardship, Tim Frakes Productions
Waste water. We all make it. We all need it taken care of. Where our waste water goes and how it is treated is something most of us take for granted. Ok, so waste water might not be the sexiest topic to make a video about, but the wise management of our planets water resources is the most important economic and environmental issue facing life on earth. Plus, the treatment of waste water is actually quite fascinating.
This is a series of 9 videos I produced for the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) about the waste water treatment process. I worked with my friend and former ELCA colleague, Stephen Padre. RCAP works with small, rural communities to assist them in improving environmental and community health, developing sustainable water and waste-disposal facilities, increasing the capability of local leaders to address current and future needs and being in compliance with federal and state regulations for utilities. Watch the videos and learn!
Here are links to each of the videos
- Waste water Introduction
- Waste water Collection
- Solids Handling
- Preliminary Treatment
- Primary Treatment
- Secondary Treatment
- Effluent Disinfection
- Effluent Disposal
- What does it take to be an operator?
Tags: Education, Environment, Tim Frakes Productions
Anna Hauge, Gifts of Grace
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Disaster, Education, Faith Based Production, History, Interesting People, Tim Frakes Productions, women
Here is a story I produced for Lutheran Life Communities Foundation. Anna Hauge was a Navy nurse on board the USS Tranquility, the hospital ship that rescued the survivors of the USS Indianapolis disaster in August, 1945. Anna is one of those unsung heroes who lived through an epic chapter in American history.
Tags: Education, History, Tim Frakes Productions, women
HAPI: Madame Gabriel
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Education, Faith Based Production, Interesting People, Interesting Places, Tim Frakes Productions, women
My second visit to Haiti in 2011 was with Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI). One of the many projects HAPI has going is Nouvel Etwal (New Stars). The New Stars help young Haitian girls develop self esteem and share their stories through dance. One afternoon we packed the girls in a van and drove to a nearby village to meet with a group of older adult women. One of these women, is a former professional carnival dancer. Many years have passed since Madame Gabriel danced on the big stage, but its clear from this video that she has moves and grace.
Tags: Art, Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions, Video, women
Empowering Haiti: Let’s Hear it from the Girls
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Education, Faith Based Production, Interesting Places, News, Peace and Justice, Pro Bono, Tim Frakes Productions, Travel, women
It’s back to Haiti in August. This time, I’ll be shooting footage for Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI). HAPI was founded in March 2007 as a fair trade artisan co-op focused on spirituality and creativity. The marketing of the resulting art supports women’s economic development and empowerment.
HAPI Executive Director, Valerie Mossman-Celestin and my friend, photo journalist, Paul Jeffrey asked me to help with this project. The footage will be woven into a short documentary. “Let’s Hear it from the Girls” (working title) will connect the voice of girls in a rural Haitian community to touch us with stories, music and dance that convey the joys and challenges of growing up female in Haiti. The film will also capture the subtle messages of hope emerging from a dream that the community recognize the value and equality of girls and women.
We will be working in Mizak, a mountainous, rural section of La Vallee in South-East Haiti, 80 km south of Port-au-Prince and 12 km west of Jacmel. The total population is just over 35,000. Seventy percent are peasants living under the poverty level of less than $1 US per day, and 63% of the population is under the age of 18. There are no jobs available, no electricity, no telecommunication system, no plumbing, and no water filtration. The majority of households have no measurable income and they rely on system of barter and trade.
HAPI plans to make this DVD available as a teaching resource to folks in the United Methodist Church. The project is funded in part through a grant from the United Methodist Women’s organization.
Look for more in the coming days and weeks!
Tags: Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions, Travel, women
Flight to Bukoba Tanzania
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Africa, Education, Tim Frakes Productions, Travel
Wednesday, May 23, 2001 Jim Quattrocki, Kevin Jacobson and I arrive at an air strip in Moshi, Tanzania and board a single engine, fixed landing gear plane operated by African Inland Mission. Andy, the pilot, is a tall, slender American from Boulder, Colorado. It rained the night before – now the clouds began to lift and we took off, flying around Mt. Kilimanjaro and her more rugged sister Mt. Meru. We then head out over the world famous Serengeti Plain, Ngorongoro Crater and Odoval Gorge.
The ancient green grasslands are dotted with huts and animals. The route takes us west across the Serengeti to the southern tip of Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile River and on in to Bukoba, Tanzania on the western shore.
Tags: Africa, African Inland Missions, Bukoba Tanzania, Tim Frakes Productions, Travel
West Chicago Printing Company, 100 Years
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Education, History, Tim Frakes Productions
My career in mass-media began back in 1979 at a weekly local newspaper and print shop called “The West Chicago Press.” The Treudt family not only gave me my first real job, they became life-long friends. The newspaper has since gone the way of most weekly publications. However, the printing operation survives. Recently the West Chicago Printing Company celebrated it’s 100 year anniversary. This interview with Bill Treudt and Modesto “Mo” Zarate, recounts daily life and laughs that went with the newspaper and printing business in the 20th century.
Tags: History, Miehle, Newspaper, Printing, Tim Frakes Productions, Video, West Chicago
Proud of my Ugandan Friend Emmy
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Africa, Education, Interesting People, News, Peace and Justice, Tim Frakes Productions
I first met Akoch Emmanuel (Emmy), managing an internet cafe in Kitgum, Uganda in 2006. At the time, Northern Uganda was in the final stages of a 21 year civil war that saw hundreds of thousands forced into Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps. More than 20,000 children were abducted from villages and forced to join militants as sex slaves or soldiers. To avoid capture, children would leave their defenseless villages at night and congregate in city parks, back alleys and spartan night shelters.
Emmy lived with his mother and siblings on the outskirts of Kitgum. A bright student, Emmy worked his way into a management position at a store-front cafe on the main street of this dusty, provincial town. Not only did he run the store, he also served as an IT educator for friends and older Ugandan customers unfamiliar with the internet and computer technology.
After high school, Emmy enrolled in Gulu University and studied computer science. Despite considerable financial struggles, the burden of being the oldest male child, (Emmy’s father passed away several years earlier), theft of his computer and concerns about his mother’s health, Emmy emerged from Gulu with a bachelors degree.
Today Emmy serves as the IT manager for St. Josephs Hospital. In June, 2011, he launched their new web site. Check it out! http://www.sjhkitgum.org/
Emmy is a great example of the kind of talent, vision and energy possessed by many young Africans. He is a sign of hope in a world in need of something to hold on to.
Tags: Africa, Education, Justice, Tim Frakes Productions, Travel
Parker Palmer Spiritual Journey, 30 Good Minutes
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Chicago Sunday Evening Club, Education, Interesting People, Spiritual Journey
This is a spiritual journey segment I recorded and produced for 30 Good Minutes. Renowned educator and Quaker writer, Parker Palmer, says one of the biggest things he has learned in life is that the direction of the spiritual journey is not upward but downward, to what Paul Tillich called the ground of being.
Tags: Education, Faith, Spiritual Journey, Tim Frakes Productions
The Bread Shed
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Education, Evangelism and Outreach, Faith Based Production, Peace and Justice, Tim Frakes Productions
The Bread Shed is a grass roots, faith-based, volunteer organization in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, that feeds the hungry, both spiritually and physically while sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
My friend Jim Ward asked me to help this growing organization make a video about their work. Big thanks go out to Briana Freeland and Kevin Fields for their help with the production. Also, thanks go out to the Ward family for their hospitality.
Tags: Church, Hunger, Poplar Bluff, Tim Frakes Productions, Video