The World Vision celebrity photoshoot

I went to the World Vision celeb photoshoot today, the pictures will be used to promote the World Vision 24 Hour Famine campaign - Eleanor Tomlinson, Fearne Cotton, Liz McClarnon and Georgia Groome all came along.

The World Vision 24 hour Famine campaign encourages young people across the country to be sponsored to go without something that is important to them for a day and all the celebrities had chosen to give up a specific thing which was important to them for 24 hours, Eleanor chose riding because it was one of her favorite hobbies as well as giving up food for 24 Hours, Georgia chose to give up the comfort of living in her own home and sleeping in her own bed and therefore chose to give up her house keys and sleep outside with several of her friends. Liz chose to give up fast food as that is a major weakness of hers, and Fearne sacrificed radio and music.

The photographer, Ray Burmiston, arranged the photo shoot really well by having a clear Perspex box at the centre of each photo, which had an item inside that represented the object each celebrity was giving up for 24 hours. Liz posed with fast food in the box, Fearne a radio, Georgia her house keys and Eleanor her riding hat.

When talking to them all individually it was good to see how passionate they all were about World Vision and the work being done in many countries. Both Fearne and Liz have been on previous World Vision trips and acted as ambassadors – Liz in Zambia, and Fearne for last years campaign in Chennai, India, so they had a really good understanding of the whole campaign. Eleanor is going out to visit the same projects as I did in Jaipur with her dad in a weeks time. When I talked to her, she said she was very nervous, but glad she was able to go with her dad as support for the upsetting things she would no doubt see. I was able to answer lots of questions about the projects that they will visit.

The day has been really fun, and all the celebrities were really nice - and incredibly normal! All four of them amazed me with their passion about what they were doing and their willingness to help to make others aware. They genuinely wanted to help which was so refreshing to witness. Oh - and i got my photo taken with them!

The video from the shoot is on you tube! http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rnXhLr4MKwo

Back in the UK and shooting with Fearne Cotton!

I'm back in the UK, and I’ve been invited into London by Kazoo (World
Vision’s PR agency) to the celebrity photo shoot that is taking place in order to promote the World Vision 24 Hour Famine campaign. The celebrities attending are Eleanor Tomlinson, Georgia Groome, Liz McClarnon and Fearne Cotton!
I’m due to arrive at the studio in Parsons Green at 11am tomorrow and can’t wait. I’m slightly nervous though as I am told that there will be a chance that I will be photographed with them - this is scary as I have no idea what to do and I’m sure they are all amazing and used to posing for photos. Can't wait for tomorrow!!

Day 1 in Jaipur, India with World Vision

Although we actually arrived yesterday night, today was really our first day of seeing Jaipur. After waking up late and making everyone else late also, we went to look around the city in order to acclimatize before the film director Mike got here. It was also an opportunity to learn about some of the history behind what we were actually in India to do. We visited the Amber Fort which was built on a hilltop and had originally in past century's been used as a royal palace. After being given the choice to walk up the hill to it, to drive or to ride on an elephant, we quickly decided that driving was definitely the safest option. After looking around the Amber Fort, we went to the city palace and the Hawa Mahal. I found it really helpful to have a day of acclimatisation, not only so that I could get used to the Indian culture and way of life through learning the historical story behind these beautiful buildings, but also so I was able take in and begin to accept the sheer poverty that we saw all around us and through the day wherever we went. On the way to lunch we took a autorickshaw which is a small three wheeled Indian vehicle (the equivilant of a taxi in England) which allowed us to manoever within heavy traffic and get out of it quickly, as well as being able to see everything that was going on around us because it had no windows or doors. Here i was exposed to people living in poverty all around me, everywhere I looked partially clothed people with bones jutting out were going about their daily lives – begging, washing and desperately trying to find food. What I found hardest to accept was the children and babies in the streets, expectant mothers, and disabled people who make up normality here. There is no help and no hope for them.

We returned to the hotel to have a meeting with Allen, the Programme Manager working for World Vision running the projects that we would be seeing tomorrow and for the rest of the week. Mike the director of the film we are making also arrived from England in time, and we discussed various aspects of the project and the filming we planned on doing. It was also really helpful because we were able to ask questions about the project and get answers from someone who had first hand experience of the situation within the communities we were to be working with. This really has helped me prepare for the day tomorrow where we are actually going to visit two of the villages where we plan to do some filming, along with some interviews. What really struck me is how acceptable the commercial sex work seemed to be as a profession and how Allen and his team were not in the slightest bit phased by talking about it. Allen was informative and explained a number of things to be that I wasn't aware of from the previous information I had read to do with the project, I learnt that girls as young as 11 were known to be involved in commercial sex work within the villages, and they are actually forced into this work by their parents and family who need the money in order to to live. Also that the good looking daughter is forced to work mostly against her will while the less attractive sibling are able to perhaps marry and lead a relatively normal existence (in Indian terms) through having an arranged marriage. This is all making me apprehensive about tomorrow.