Of the many things we never envisioned ourselves doing on our 40th wedding anniversary, being movie stars in West Africa would certainly have been at the top of the list!!
Nevertheless, here we are, but don't expect it to be showing on the big screen anytime soon.
The videos are being produced as part of the literacy training materials for all church units in the Africa West Area in 2019.
(French manuals are still being written, so about 100 English speaking stakes will start out.)
It's hard to decide if the "real stars" are the teachers and leaders who give of their time, efforts and love to provide an opportunity for others to learn to read.
Or is it the students who take the leap of faith and try?
(Here a student in her home setting where she is sharing with her family what she learned in class.)
If it's neither of those, it must surely be the "budding stars" who follow the examples they see around them.
But as with anything worthwhile, there is "opposition in all things. If not so, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad."
2 Nephi 2:11
In preparation for the film crew coming over, we had been asked to look for exceptional teachers who could be in the films. Evangeline on the left was one of them. The week before filming, she dropped her phone in the toilet. Then while working in her shop where she is a seamstress, the owner came and put a lock on her door so she couldn't get out in order to force her landlord to pay his taxes on the property. She had no phone to call for help. She finally was able to get someone's attention who tried to help, but the owner refused to open until he was paid. She spent 3 days locked inside and couldn't get in touch with us. Fortunately people handed her food through the openings.
Because the AC units and fans created too much noise, those had to be turned off during filming. The noise outside was also too loud, so the window louvers were closed. We called the filming room the "sauna," and this was the "recovery" room.
The power went out, no surprise there. They had generators, and LOTS of batteries.
There were manuals to be packed and weighted for taking to Sierra Leone. The truck they were in broke down on the way to pick up some of the learners. A tow truck was requested and it also broke down. So another tow truck was requested while they put the learners in a taxi, just before a huge downpour which made that road basically impassable by car.
We hung around outside homes, trying to keep the noise level down, watching people wash dishes and prepare meals.
There were babies to be adored as their curious parents wondered what was going on around their compound.
We had our last opportunity to do a training together with the Wakilds as they head back to Kentucky soon. They have become dear friends and we have so enjoyed working together with them.
An effort was made to film this training also, but with the main crew from Salt Lake filming in Sierra Leone, it just didn't work out.
So, we're thinking that our chance to become movie stars just isn't in the cards after all.
A final shot of the literacy sisters together. Joan Heckel on the right is the main author for the manuals. She and her husband served here in 2015-1017 and have been working non-stop from Salt Lake ever since. We think all of these wonderful people are bright shining stars!!
