Zambia Filming - Day 1

Things are going well here in Zambia. We had a productive day of filming. We went to church in the morning. They sang for an hour and a half... they were supposed to sing for an hour... that's 30 minutes over... somewhere Jayson French was crying and didn't know why.

If there is a perk to the trip being extended two days it's that we haven't had to rush a story that wasn't fully developed. We spent some valuable time scouting locations, meet people, and storyboard ideas. We did shoot the SuperStart and believe short today. You will all love Abigail. She is the oldest of 6 kids and lives in a small but clean concrete house. She's in 6th grade. She wants to be a journalist someday so she was very excited about taking part in this. I don't know how these things work themselves out sometimes! Strange huh?

Below you'll see a scene at the MacKenzie neighborhood primary school. The buckets you see in the shot weigh about 40 pounds when full. Some kids carry two at a time. We're learning a lot about the system SHIP runs here. You see, wells by themselves are not the answer. When it comes to clean water, it's not always access but it is always sanitation.

With that in mind, I'm pretty stoked about the SS! and believe goal. SHIP believes in bio-sand filters. They clean 98% of the bugs in the water... no matter where the water comes from. We're drinking out of one this week. Studies have shown that getting a BSF in a house is the fastest way to improve the health of a family. They are practically a status symbol here in Ndola.

I'm also very happy to report that Josh Hall is the most important white guy to come to Zambia since Dr. Livingston. We were in a school yesterday when all of a sudden the kids started calling Josh "Big Show." They were practically chanting, "Big Show! Big Show! Big Show!" He didn't disappoint either.

We're excited about the days to come. The story is working itself out. The SHIP staff has been great.

On a personal note, I stayed up late last night to track the OU game via espn.com gamecast. We have to figure out a way to score touchdowns when in the red zone. You can't beat Texas with field goals.

On last thing, a bunch of you keep updating your facebook status with remarks about how cold it is in Joplin. It's 96 here. Knock it off. And no, you don't need to turn the heat on when it is 50 degrees.