We wrapped up the filming in beautiful (and freezing) Qwaqwa in the Free State Province at one of ASAP’s partner CBO’s called Kakaretso. Kakaretso is by far the most ‘together’ project in the ASAP family. They have their own office, they have a 4 very dedicated women who each have a specific job description—and they even have uniforms!
Kakaretso staff (plus Andy & Moi's nephew)
Kakaretso supports 79 ECD (early childhood development) centres with over 5000 children. We went to a few of the centres for filming, and I was completely blown away. They were incredible! Very well maintained, the children had toys, art supplies, books, tables, rugs, vegetable gardens, a play structure outside, uniforms … even the teachers were in matching school uniforms! The kids looked so happy and healthy. But they weren’t all orphans. Kakaretso supports the entire ECD program, while ASAP directly supplies the OVC with school uniforms and materials.
Romper stompers at Sentebali ECD centre
Hi-fives with pre-schoolers at Neoh ECD centre
At night we went back to our backpackers–a place called “Karma” in nearby Kestell. It was a lovely place, but they DIDN’T HAVE HEATING. There was snow in the mountains, a windchill factor of 5 billion, and they had NO HEATING! Okay, there was a stove in the living room, but our bedrooms were almost unbearable. They even left the windows open when we weren’t there! Insanity. But it was charming, and the owner made the most delicious jams in the world. I bought melon/ginger and pear/pinotage/rosemary, and I think I’m developing a serious addiction.
So cold you need a cat on your lap just to get through the day!
The next day, poor Scilla was sick as a dog and had to stay in bed. We went out without her, but I think we were all a little worried that we might not get the exact shots she wanted! We went to another ECD centre and got loads more shots of kids playing and eating, and it’s hard to go wrong shooting kids that adorable. We shot at the tiny adobe hut of a local gogo and her 7 grandkids. The lighting was horrible, and Linet and I froze our fingers off holding the giant silver reflector, but I think they ended up getting some really good footage.
Gogo & grandchildren in Qwaqwa
And that’s a wrap! The rest of the crew hightailed it to Durban, and back to Cape Town to finish up the filming at Nyanga, but Andy and I ended up staying at Kakaretso an extra day. Andy fixed computer viruses and got the staff set up with better software. I got some more letters/drawings for the School to School program, and also did a little computer tutoring, as best I could.
"I like to play" drawing for School to School campaign
Overall, it was an exhausting 10 days of filming, but amazing and unforgettable. We all had a great time working together and sharing the creativity and responsibilities. Andy and I learned a lot about filmmaking that we’ll surely put to use on our next Potato Riot production. And I can’t wait to see the final product when Move A Mountain has put the whole thing together!
