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Dispatch from South Africa: Witnessing the Contradictions

June 19, 2009

Profile Information

First Name:

Molly

Last Name:

Blank

Hometown:

Chevy Chase, MD

Job Title:

Documentary Filmmaker

City:

Cape Town

State:

South Africa

My Story:

I live in Cape Town working on outreach across the country for my documentary Testing Hope: Grade 12 in the new South Africa which I made when I lived here in 2005. I also lecture in the education faculty at a local university and do a hodge podge of education, journalism and other related things!

My Ideal School is a Place Where:

people feel valued, questions are encouraged, teachers and principals commit to their students and do all they can to help them succeed.

Recommended Web sites:

www.testinghope.com

Recommended Blogs:

http://mollydispatches.blogspot.com

Molly Blank's Blog

Dispatch from South Africa: Witnessing the Contradictions

MY LATEST DISPATCH FROM MID-MAY FROM MY BLOG HTTP://MOLLYDISPATCHES.BLOGSPOT.COM

I don’t remember a specific moment when I learned right from wrong. Clearly I learned it, over time, from my parents, grandparents and teachers and others, but I don’t remember a single conversation where I was sat down and told right, wrong, good, bad, moral. Moral. That word has so many connotations. In the last several years it seems that and the word values have been co-opted– people talk about “values educatio… Continue

Posted on June 19, 2009 at 5:14am —

Dispatch from South Africa: Tired Hearts

I just sent this dispatch to my regular list of family and friends at home and thought I would share it here.

I am coming home for 3 weeks next week. I am, of course, excited to see family and friends (and some of you) but I am also looking forward to a break. I am overwhelmed. If only deep breathing would help I’d be fine, but what causes this feeling will not quickly go away tomorrow, the root causes will probably not go away ever. Today on the radio, I heard an add for a childr… Continue

Posted on July 25, 2008 at 12:32pm —

Comment Wall (7 comments)

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At 11:19am on October 7, 2008, Joel Elliott said…: Molly, got ur film and watched it with my bro and sis here in the village. we all liked it a lot. i am thinking of showing it to the 12th graders at the high school here and incorporate a little motivational talk...we'll see. thx so much. hey, any change you'll be going to macufe fest in bloemfontein this weekend?
also, i wanna communicate via email. write me, joelypoley@gmail.com

At 11:28am on August 28, 2008, Joel Elliott said…: sweet! thx! hope you returned safely from the states. look forward to getting that film.
Joel Elliott
PO Box 49
Chuenespoort 0745

At 10:55am on August 17, 2008, Joel Elliott said…: molly, thanks for the message! i've been reading your blog entries. really want to see your film. pls let me know if you come up to Univ of the North...i'm not too far from there and could meet you there or in polokwane. i'll be in cape town next january...
peace,
j

At 3:40pm on August 4, 2008, mschen said…: What a beautiful small world, Molly. I love it. Please say hello to Dylan for me. And good luck on your fundraising. So important. Any chance I can see your film? Or maybe you could tell me more about it.... I'm just back from vacation (on the pond pictured in my photograph). Ah, bliss. Just wishing I could take my mid-afternoon swim right about now! Ah well!

At 8:11am on July 25, 2008, Sam Chaltain said…: Hey Molly,

No need to worry about Joel's SA thunder; we have room for both. On your personal home page there is a "blog" link -- above where it says "Molly Blank's page" -- click that and paste in your essay. At www.fivefreedoms.org (check it out if you haven't yet), we tout the FF Blogosphere, which is where pieces like yours (and Joel's) can be found. Thanks for sharing those ideas here -- and for adding your voice to the din!

See you down the road . . .

At 11:17am on July 16, 2008, mschen said…: Molly, I'd love to be in touch with you as I loved a piece you wrote recently--in Edutopia, about Facing History's work with Dylan Wray of Facing the Truth. I can hear Karen Murphy on the phone in the next room, whom you may have met... She travels often to Cape Town. I love my work at Facing History and am eager to figure out ways to put kids in in the U.S. in touch with kids in other countries.

At 2:07pm on June 12, 2008, Sam Chaltain said…: Molly! Welcome to the Five Freedoms Network. It's great to have you here. Your dad forwarded your web site, and the doc looks remarkable. Congratulations! As I mentioned to him, I hope you'll post either a trailer or a clip from the film on our Videos page (process is pretty straight-forward, but let me know if you have questions). Given that this network is made up of educators from around the world, you should find a receptive audience for the film and a good base that can help you by spreading word of the project throughout their local communities.

As you peruse the space to see who is here and what the different parts of the site have to offer, I urge you to visit Joel Elliott's page. Joel is serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in S Africa right now, and he's keeping a blog of his observations (you may also want to paste your blog entries here so more folks become aware of it). He is a thoughtful, curious guy and I think he would love the chance to learn more about what you're doing.

Post a comment on my page anytime with your questions and ideas. And help me turn the screws so your dad signs up too. As I was telling him, since the Network is a flat (and free) hierarchy, it could serve as a useful way-station for his network of educators. The more voices, the better!