The first of many, many premières….

Written by Declan on November 8th, 2009 Categories: General, Latest | no comments so far. write your own »

If you look closely at the photo below, you’ll notice that the kids are watching a film on a laptop perched on a chair in the classroom of the just-one temporary transit home. The film they’re watching is one in which they feature and this was the first (& most important ;o) screening of the final version of the 15 minute short kindly made for us by Alan Burns from Ireland who volunteered with just-one during monsoon season.

Photo courtesy of Ms. Billie Bernard

Since that first screening back in late August, the film went on to become a central component to the yearly fund-raising trip I make to Ireland. With a major share of our €20,000 annual budget coming from school children back in my native West Cork (not to mention a few others from as far-flung as West Belfast, Dublin, Kildare and Tipperary), most of this Autumn trip was spent visiting almost forty schools to inform staff and students of the work they’re so generously supporting.

I must say that I’m truly inspired each year by growing interest shown by these Irish kids in the on-going work of just-one and am ever humbled by their genuine desire to help and the incredibly generous nature of their support. While it’s not the primary focus of just-one’s work, it is nonetheless a great honour for us to be able to offer a growing number of Irish school kids an opportunity to make a very real and positive difference in the lives of some of those less fortunate in our world of inequality. I’m hopeful that the insight they gain from their continued involvement with just-one and the sense of empowerment which this involvement can bring, can only bode well for the society which they will grow to inherit one day soon.

So, with all the school visits, public presentations and private viewings almost done for another year, all that’s left to be done now is to unveil the film for its on-line première. You’ll have to excuse the lack of red carpet and the traditional opulence generally associated with such events, but just-one is a low-key organisation with a far greater interest in doing as effective a job as possible rather than getting side-tracked by the extravagant trappings which so often see vast amounts of well-intended donations being shamelessly wasted…


I’ve seen the film over 100 times in the last few of months and the general consensus leaves me as confident as any man can be that you’ll enjoy it. It’s a happy and hopeful tale that’s been crafted from a sad and unjust situation. If you do enjoy it and would like to help just-one continue its work, then perhaps you’d like to scroll back up a little and follow the green “make a donation” button that you’ll find under the main menu… Or, at the very least, you could maybe forward the link to those wealthy relatives of yours who are always on the look out for good things to do with their cash! If you need further convincing though, or perhaps just want more evidence of the valuable work you’re already kindly supporting, then check out our new media page where you’ll find a couple of other films which have been made for us over the last few years.

Enjoy!

d.



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