The Story of Stuff celebrates its 1 year anniversary, launches International Page

What is the Story of Stuff?

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever

The Story of Stuff celebrates its 1 year anniversary with the launch of its
international page

www.storyofstuff.com/international

Launched on December 4, 2007, the Story of Stuff website has now been viewed by 4.8 million people in 228 countries and territories around the world as well as in thousands of classrooms, conferences, offices, churches, synagogues, public TV channels and community meetings. The film has received a phenomenal response from all over the world, inspiring additional films,
study groups, songs, theater pieces and most importantly, a renewed public discourse about alternatives to the toxics-laden, consumer-frenzied focus of today's mainstream economy and culture.

In response to literally thousands of requests for translations, The Story of Stuff Project and Free Range Studios worked with friends around the world to translate the film into many languages. Ply Media donated its services to add the subtitling feature to the new international web page, allowing the film to reach beyond English-speaking communities. The international page currently includes subtitled versions of the film in 10 languages, plus English at the request of many hearing-impaired viewers. Additional languages, both in subtitled and dubbed versions, will be added to the international page throughout 2009.

The initial subtitled translations on the Story of Stuff international page are: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Taiwanese, and Thai.


The creators of the Story of Stuff will continue to add to the Story of Stuff website, so please check back for more translations and other good stuff during the coming year. If you would like to get on our mailing list for regular updates, please sign up at www.storyofstuff.com.

For more information, please contact:

The Story of Stuff: For enquiries about the translations:
sostranslations@gmail.com.

General Story of Stuff enquiries, media interviews: Contact Annie Leonard
and Nathan Embretson at email: storyofstuff@gmail.com or by telephone
+1-510-883-1055 or fax +1-510-883-9493.

Free Range Studios: www.freerangestudios.com
; Contact Erica Priggen at
erica@freerangestudios.com or by telephone: +1-510-981-0353

Ply Media: www.plymedia.com ; Contact: Yoni
Silberberg at email yoni@plymedia.com or by telephone +1-650-353-0964

Photo Essay: Dede- A Term of Endearment

If you missed the Sunday Inquirer Magazine last October 19, here's my photo essay on indigenous breastfeeding practices that got featured.

Thank you to Sir Ernie Sarmiento for inviting me to submit the story and my tutors at the Asian Center for Journalism-World Press Photo Diploma course in Photojournalism Alex Baluyut, Jimmy Domingo, Isabel Kenny, Luz Rimban, Romy Gacad and additional critiques Sonny Yabao and Beau Baconguis.




DROP the word among adolescents and you’re bound to get a slew of embarrassed giggles. Among doctors, the term describes a healthy feeding practice. Artists meanwhile see it as a favorite subject, the perfect prelude to circles and curves, while Tagalogs equate the word with “milk.”

Among the Irayas, one of seven tribes belonging to the indigenous group commonly known as Mangyans in Oriental Mindoro, dede is a term of endearment used to address mothers. As such, according to Iraya storytellers, dede describes a culture of nourishment and the strong bond between mother and child established initially through breastfeeding.

Thanks to their remote location, the Irayas in Sitio Balugbog Kabayo, Barangay Bigaan in San Teodoro, Oriental Mindoro, have yet to hear about the vaunted merits of infant formula that media constantly advertise.

What the Irayas know is that breastfeeding is part of their culture, an age-old tradition that has nourished their children across generations.

According to Unicef, an international body on child welfare, breastfed children in the developing world are three times more likely to survive infancy than those fed milk from commercial sources. After all, in areas like Sitio Balugbog Kabayo, clean water, sterilized bottles and ready cash for infant formula are severely lacking. To make limited milk formula last longer, mothers are apt to water this down and undernourish their babies in the process. To save on water and fuel, mothers using infant formula may scrimp on resources such that the hygienic preparation of feeding bottles and nipples could be spotty at best. Babies then are exposed to the risks of improper feeding practices.

In contrast, breastfeeding is accessible and readily available. It also provides all a baby needs for proper sustenance and health, including protein, vitamins, calcium and iron. Compared to cow’s milk, breast milk is easily digestible and enables mothers to share their antibodies, a form of immunization, with their babies.

While breastfeeding has been declining in other areas, it continues to flourish among the Irayas, whose culture enlists even the menfolk in childcare. Cited by the Health Department’s National Center for Health Promotion, the Irayas may be lacking in creature comforts, but they certainly know what’s best for their babies. •

You are cordially invited to the Exhibit opening of "Mapping Invisible Cities" on October 17, 2008, 6PM at Shangri-la Mall, Mandaluyong.



MAPPING INVISIBLE CITIES

Photography Exhibit
17 Oct to 07 Nov 2008
Opening reception on 17 October, 6pm
3/F Shangri-la Plaza, EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City
free admission
+63 2 8405723 to 24
program@manila.goethe.org

When German photographer Peter Bialobrzeski traveled through Southeast Asia in winter 2007/8, he combined his own photographic investigations with workshops for young talents in six foremost cities of the region: Jakarta, Hanoi, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Singapore. What came out of the workshops was a multifaceted kaleidoscope of these six metropoles, culminating in the exhibition “Mapping Invisible Cities”.

“Mapping Invisible Cities”, which opens on October 17, 6pm at 3/F Shangri-la Plaza, features the works of 27 photographers, including 8 (Cathy Quiogue, Che Katigbak, Cris Sevilla, Dennis Rito, Estan Cabigas, Gigie Cruz, Kidlat de Guia and Tammy David) from the Philippines. The diverse themes and approaches in the 105 pieces, in addition to Peter Bialobrzeski’s work, are like fragments of the unseen and unnoticed ordinariness hidden in these 6 cities. When these fragments are joined in one single frame, like a map, they begin to show what was formerly invisible.

In mapping them, these photographers have made their cities more obvious and bring to the surface what we do not (want to) see or notice. Their works act as maps that show the organization of space, movement and people. Some also show how maps can be tied to the imagination and abstractions. Altogether, they serve as valuable insights to and experiences of Southeast Asia’s largest cities. They also give audiences the ability to see into the future of Southeast Asian photography.

“Mapping Invisible Cities” will be on display until November 7. The exhibit is brought to you by the Goethe-Institut Manila in cooperation with Shangri-la Plaza. For more information, please call 8170978.


For more information:
Tel 8170978
www.goethe.de/manila
manila.estancabigas.com