Clearing Rubble, Redemption Lutheran, Carrefour, Haiti
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Disaster, News, Tim Frakes Productions
Members of Redemption Lutheran Church in Carrefour, Haiti gather to clear rubble from their destroyed church building. The structure collapsed during the January 12, 2010 earthquake that hit Haiti. Fortunately, no one was in the building when it collapsed.
Tags: Church, Faith, Florida Bahamas Synod, Haiti, Lutheran, Tim Frakes Productions, Travel, Video
Haiti Lutheran Church: New Office
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, News, Tim Frakes Productions
It’s not all bad news coming out of Haiti. As workers put on the finishing touches, Pastor Livenson Lauvanus of the Haiti Evangelical Lutheran Church shows off their new office space in Port Au Prince. The new space will provide offices space, guest lodging, a chapel and meeting space. Funding for the rental property was provided through the ELCA.
Tags: ELCA, Florida Bahamas Synod, Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions
Celebrating Three Years in Business!
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under News, Tim Frakes Productions
Camped out on the roof at the LWF office in Pétionville, Haiti, two weeks after the earthquake.March 28, 2010 marks the three-year anniversary of Tim Frakes Productions. Had I known three years ago that the global economy was going to tank and the U.S. would plunge into it’s deepest economic recession since the 1930’s I probably would have stayed put. Thank God for my ignorance!
Today there are six of us in the company; Me, Myself and I, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. (The second three get along perfectly!) This business is a blur of activity, productivity and wonderful memories. My clients are abundant, faithful and ask me to do meaningful work. I’ve produced video productions in Haiti, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and dozens of places across the United States.
Almost all of my work has been with non-profit, faith-based organizations. That’s a good thing because that’s where my passion and sense of calling rests.
To family and friends who gave encouragement and advice during the planning stages of this venture, and who continue to be supportive, I say “Thank you!”
To great clients like 30 Good Minutes, Moody Radio, Lutheran Life Communities, Herald of Truth, the ELCA, it’s synod and congregations, Kairos Christian Resource Development, Mount Mary College and Wheaton College, I also say “Thank you!”
Tags: Tim Frakes Productions, Video
RCC Congress 2010
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under News
RCC Congress 2010
Join myself and religion communicators from around the world here in Chicago, April 7-10, 2010, for a once-a-decade multi-faith forum of all levels of communicators of religion.
This extraordinary event brings together over 1,200 communications professionals to expand our experience and broaden our perspective on embracing change. Social change invites us to new ministries. Religious change invites us to new dialogue. Technological change entices us to new modes of reaching out
As communicators, we have ever advancing tools, but we also see a power shift in publishing: through tools such as blogs, everyone has a voice. How do we harness this power for the good of our organizations?
Tags: Chicago, Illinois, Interfaith, Religion Communication, Tim Frakes Productions
Haiti, Three Weeks After: Chris Herlinger Reports
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Disaster, News, Tim Frakes Productions
My friend Chris Herlinger from Church World Service and I produced this story in Port Au Prince, Haiti, three weeks after the January 2010 earthquake.
Port Au Prince, Haiti
February, 2010
by Chris Herlinger
In the nearly three weeks since the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake, Haiti feels like a desert bereft of much that makes for a dignified life.
Port-au-Princes downtown area, hit hardest by quake, still looks and feels as if the disaster happened just days ago. The smell of rotting flesh wafts through the air, and the sides of some buildings look as if they are ready to fall into the street at any moment.
It is startling to see a building cut in half, office chairs and desks, filing cabinets and sinks suddenly exposed to the harsh midday sunlight just as it is to see thousands of people, suddenly displaced, living in the makeshift displacement camps within and outside the capital city
Yet the capacity of Haitians to embrace elements of normalcy is encouraging beyond words. That means dressing in your Sunday best to attend church or offering a hand to neighbors or visitors.
The international community continues its role in providing humanitarian assistance to Haiti an effort that by all accounts was slow in starting and is still not seamless, given the many challenges that
faced Haiti before and immediately following the quake.
Tags: Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions, Video
Wrapping Things up in Haiti
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Disaster, News, Travel
Tim Frakes pauses on the grounds of a golf course now converted into a massive tent city following the January 2010 Haiti earthquakes.
Packing up my equipment and belongings as my time in Haiti draws to a close, thoughts and emotions percolate. I was invited to come to Haiti two weeks after the January 2010 earthquake that leveled much of Port Au Prince and the surrounding countryside by the ELCA Disaster Response and the Lutheran World Federation.
As a videographer, I was charged with recording footage related to the combined response efforts of the Act Alliance, a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.
Most of my time was spent working along side photojournalist Paul Jeffrey from the United Methodist Church and Chris Herlinger, a reporter from Church Word Service. Paul and Chris are top-notch professionals that work with courage, passion and accuracy.
Together we spent time in the demolished city center, tent cities, worship services and food distributions. Back at the LWF offices in Peiton Ville, we spent the evening hours editing stories and photos. Fortunately LWF has blazing fast internet, so our job was made much easier.
The people of Haiti are really in a bind. Apparently things were slowly improving before the earth quake. The scope of devastation and loss of life will make the goal of building a stable, healthy Haiti much more difficult.
The global relief effort is amazing. I witnessed Brazilians, Hungarians, French, Sri Lankan, Finns, Scotts, Cubans, Dominicans, and many Americans working together. I hear that Americans are complaining about the apparent lack of coordination and slow pace of relief response. I can only say that the enormity of this disaster cannot be underestimated. It is really bad. This is not a problem that you can simply “fix.”
That said, the world community is doing their best. No matter what happens, Haitians will reach down and draw from and endless well of determination and find a way to go on.
Tags: Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions
Personal Notes from Haiti
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under News, Tim Frakes Productions
Haitians pick through the rubble of a fallen building in Port Au Prince
Hait Notes: It is 5:00 a.m. here in Port Au Prince. A still photographer, Paul Jeffrey and I are driving out to the city center this morning to do some filming in good light.
I am staying at the Haiti offices of the Lutheran World Federation. It is a large house converted into offices in normal times. These days it is packed with faith-based non-governmental organization staff members from all over the world. They are coordinating relief efforts and helping Haitians move on with their lives. We have running water (cold only) from a tank and electricity from a generator.
No sleeping quarters, so I and others are camped out in tents at various places in the compound. The compound is up in the hills overlooking the city. We have two armed guards who stand watch over night. No rioting or anything close to it here. In fact, I have seen only orderly behavior as I travel across the city.
The destruction is massive in the city center. It is easy to see how so many were killed. No bodies in the streets. All have been picked up and buried. Almost every open space, park or parking-lot has been converted into a tent city.
We are hearing that Americans are outraged because of the rioting. I think when Fox News or CNN hear about a large government food/water distribution, (typically unorganized) they are ready with cameras to record the melee.
In reality, most distributions are organized and peaceful. Everyone is working to make the best of a bad situation.
I am headed home on Monday through the Dominican Republic. I catch an American Airlines flight Tuesday.
Tags: Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions
Blankets for Haiti’s Dissabled
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Faith Based Production, News, Peace and Justice
Caring for people with disabilities is a priority for Church World Service and the Act Alliance as Haiti rebuilds following the January 2010 earthquake.
Tags: ELCA, Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions
Act Alliance Supports Haiti’s Homeless
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Disaster, News, Peace and Justice, Tim Frakes Productions
Tent cities have sprung up across Port Au Prince following the January 2010 earthquake. In one settlement, ACT Alliance provides tents, drinking water and children’s programs.
Tags: Act Alliance, Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions
Lauvanus Greets Lutheran World Federation
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Disaster, Faith Based Production, News, Pro Bono
Pastor Livenson Lauvanus, President of the Lutheran Church of Haiti brings a greeting to the Lutheran World Federation following the January 2010 earthquake. I recorded Pastor Lauvanus in Orlando, Florida on Thursday, January 21. Pastor Lauvanus was in Florida on business when the earthquake struck Haiti. For more visit: Lutheran Disaster Response