“Legend of Fat Frog/Ashley Bearden”
The time that it takes to get to Ghana is quite lengthy, yet when “Fat Frog” arrived we all knew that she had been here before. Her real name is Ashley Bearden and she had been to Ghana before back in 2008. It was very interesting to hear her speak of her last trip as if it was just yesterday. The name “Fat Frog” came when she was first learning Twi in the community of Kenyasi Number 1. She found the Twi translation of fat frog to be quite amusing and thus she was given that nick name for the duration of her stay.
Just before Christmas, Ashley had come back as a videographer and this time to the Wonderful village of Humjibre. We welcomed her with open arms though we all knew what plentiful work there was to do. As we got into her first week we could notice that she was very comfortable with the surroundings almost instantly. From the moment Ashley got the equipment set up she was out filming any shot that could be found useful. As for the planned home visits she knew right where she wanted to be for each shot and what angles she needed which minimized time filming on each visit. Clearly, this was a professional.
It was quite impressive to watch as she seemed to be a portable movie studio at times recording audio, filming and directing all at once. It was very natural how everyone was involved and ready to play his or her role in the film. We were all very at ease with the style and professionalism displayed. Adaptation is always needed in this heat, with the power outages, and with the amount time we had to do a lot of filming. Dedication to the job and serious work ethic were the attributes Ashley displayed, those qualities and then some actually. With infrastructure limitations in Ghana, at times there was no electricity and computers were not functioning properly. She went with the flow in order to get the job done.
As for personal time we held a field day of activities just before our X-Mas vacation. This was something she was not about to sit and watch so we were all impressed with Ashley’s athleticism.. She could carry a boiled egg on a spoon like no body’s business. We were no match for the tenacious tandem of her with Saga in the three legged race. Even in defeat she showed great humility as the tug of war rope battle was just out of her team’s reach.
We got to know her rather quickly and the time was short as we had many things going on. Staff was very involved with the process. By this time we have remotely approved all the edits to our video whilst she is back in America. The results have been Outstanding! We truly enjoyed this experience and Ashley is welcome back to Humjibre any time.
Ashley Bearden was introduced to GHEI via MovingWorlds, a Matching site which connects professionals to social impact organizations for experteering engagements around the world. Ashley came to GHEI with a wealth of experience in filmmaking, having previously working on such films as Lost in Translation, The Next Three Days, and Killing Them Softly, as well as the classic TV series The Sopranos.
To see the final video click the link below
https://youtu.be/4Xigmlmqi8c
