This seven and a half minute piece is our longest English-language production to date, telling the story of how a 72-year-old grandmother from Toronto came to be running dental health programs and free English courses in Honduras, recently ranked as the most dangerous country in the world.

If you are in the Toronto area and have a chance to go, Anne will be in the theater to answer questions after the screening!

Our partner organization, Amigos de Santa Cruz Foundation, connects indigenous women with information that can empower them and their families. Check out our Spanish-language video encouraging Guatemalans to vote, and our English-language short sharing Amigos’ important work with the world!

Pedal-powered blenders, washing machines, pumps and threshing machines eliminate the need for fuel and electricity, both of which are in short supply in rural areas. Here’s a beautifully made mini-doc about “bicimáquinas” in Guatemala.

Spring is here! Express your happiness and creativity by incorporating art into your daily life. Here are some tips and ideas!

Do you have a favorite artist who is positively impacting the Seattle community? Nominate him or her for the Mayor’s Arts Award!

Need a video break? Check out the winning entries to the inaugural GlobalGiving video contest.

Three Dollar Bill Cinema is now accepting submissions for the 2012 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. The deadline to submit your work is June 15!

Here’s a fun way to support worldwide maternal health care: CARE and Threadless are hosting a T-shirt design contest. Submit a design or purchase a tee, and 100% of the proceeds go to CARE’s efforts to improve women’s lives around the globe.

Creative kids! How about a free trip to Sweden? NFFTY is hosting the Volvo Short Film Contest with the theme “Designed Around You.” Submit a film of 2 minutes or less and you might win a trip to Sweden, plus your film will be shown at NFFTY’s Opening Night!

These newly trained video instructors will be able to teach the same skills to a local teen media club. They plan to produce films to document indigenous culture, promote educational opportunities and advocate for the environment.

The center at CECAP is well equipped with computers, but needs better video and audio recording equipment. We hope this project will inspire more support for the technology that will enable these rising stars to document and share the stories that are so important in their community.

We invited participants in El Centro de la Raza‘s Comcast Digital Connectors program to talk in Spanish about an important Seattle mural, as well as the relevance of art and education in their lives. They then asked questions about life in Honduras. Here’s the resulting video:

We shared that video with more than 60 kids who were participating in HondurasChildren‘s Vacation Activities Program. They were excited to see teenagers from so far away share their stories.

And they loved the art they saw! They were inspired to create their own mural, whose theme translates to “Education for a Great Porvenir.” “Porvenir” means “future,” and is also the name of their town.

The young Honduran artists carefully reflected on what education means to them, and envisioned a bright future for themselves and their town. Their colorful 12’ by 3’ mural is on display at a school where free English classes are offered to children and adults.

Taking a break from a carnival-themed party (complete with face painting), the children recorded responses for their new, far-flung friends, and asked their own questions about life in Seattle. Check out the video:

We hope this will be just the beginning of an ongoing conversation between these two groups of talented young people!

How far would you go to make a change? 1,000 miles? On bicycle? Check out this inspiring film about one man’s journey from Seattle to San Francisco to encourage people to volunteer.

Check out this TED Talks video about using social media for humanitarian purposes during times of disaster.

Passionate about film, communications & the economy? Apply for Seattle Office of Film + Music’s internship program! Applications are due March 11.

The Oscars may not have been a ladies night, but luckily women’s voices can be heard in female-focused fests across the States.

Bill Gates outlines why small farmers are so important in the fight against global hunger. How do you support sustainable agriculture?

Looking to make a film but don’t have the cash? NFFTY provides some tips for great filmmaking without a Hollywood budget.

The Film School in Seattle invites you to their free, First Tuesday event. The next one on March 6 features Northwest Film Forum’s Lyall Bush, and he’ll discuss the work of Charlie Kaufman.

Congratulations to the 137 Seattle-based arts organizations who received significant investments from the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs’ Civic Partners program! Mayor McGinn announced that $1.6 million was invested in these programs in 2012!

The ChangeStream Media team is finding inspiration at a castle in Copán Ruinas, Honduras! The amazing singer/songwriter Duane Forrest has taken us in at Genesis School of the Arts, which he founded to offer free classes in music, dance, visual arts, cooking and drama.

Because electricity is both intermittent and expensive, education and access to information is a real problem for this community. But our partners, Amigos de Santa Cruz, hope to change that. In the fall of 2010, they officially opened the doors to Centro de Capacitacion (Center for Training), welcoming children and adults to learn more about computers, nutrition and skill building.

Historically, the cost of books and school supplies was enough to keep half of the town’s children out of school and in the fields. Today, with the help of Amigos de Santa Cruz, 98% of the children attend school and are supplied with the necessary tools for a successful future.

In addition to these education efforts, Amigos de Santa Cruz works to create better health care, a cleaner environment, and sustainable economic development for the area. From clinics and hygiene training to distributing eco-water filters, they are committed to enhancing the quality of life for this remote village.

ChangeStream Media is proud to partner with such an effective organization. During our stay in Santa Cruz la Laguna, we will host digital storytelling workshops with the teen media club and organization staff so that they will be fully prepared to tell their own stories on film. We will also create videos to empower the women of this community to vote, as well as explain the work of Amigos de Santa Cruz.

If you ever wonder about the power of art to change people’s lives and bring people from every walk of life together, check out this documentary about Vik Muniz’s three years of creating images with garbage in a Brazilian landfill.

Join Mayor McGinn, Seattle Public Schools Interim Superintendent Susan Enfield and local students to discuss arts education in area schools. It’s all happening on Feb. 16 at Seattle University.

Seattle youth arts promoters Unified Outreach will produce an Animation Festival this year, featuring cartoons, animation and short videos as well as music from local artists.

UN’s PLURAL + video contest invites international youths to voice their opinions about migration, diversity and social inclusion. The competition is currently accepting submissions!

When we arrived last month, the Vacation Activities Program was in session because kids were out of school for winter break. Children came every weekday for games, stories, art and other fun activities. We led a mural project and video pen pal exchange between local students and their counterparts in Seattle. Check out our Facebook album, which tells the story with colorful pictures.

We also produced a short video to promote free English classes available to children and adults in El Porvenir. Screenings of the video at local church services and around town spurred enthusiasm for the program; hundreds of students registered!

This month we’ll produce videos to share information about dental hygiene, HIV, and parental involvement in education. We’ll also make productions to help HondurasChildren recruit volunteers and sponsors. El Porvenir been a great site so far, and we’re thrilled to work with such excellent partner organizations.

Social Media Manager Laura Brewer was raised in a family of musicians and writers who cultivated her passion for the arts from an early age. With degrees in English and Media Studies from Loyola University Chicago, Laura armed herself with tools to create, promote and share creative projects. She also continued to develop a commitment to social responsibility and justice. Since moving to Seattle over two years ago, Laura has advanced social media efforts and written for such organizations as the Seattle Office of Film + Music, Seattle International Film Festival, Seattlest, The Local Dish and eMedia Music. She has also edited and produced small film projects, including two projects commissioned by the City of Seattle about local music. Laura is thrilled to couple her arts background with her enthusiasm for grassroots efforts with ChangeStream Media!

Social Media Manager Nina Cesare’s academic work focuses on how online spaces are being used to transform social activism and bolster the influence of grassroots support in social movements. She graduated from Ohio University with a B.A. in sociology in 2011 and is currently attending the University of Washington, where she is pursuing a PhD in sociology. She has also worked with Amnesty International’s Online Communities and E-Activism team, helping to virtually communicate with online constituents and mobilize them to participate in organizational events. With this interest and background, she hopes to inform and empower ChangeStream Media’s supporters by informing them how online tools can and have helped individual supporters truly make a difference.

Check out this video from the Guardian about Mayan culture in Guatemala. ChangeStream Media will work in the Lake Atitlán area in March, partnering with a nonprofit that, among other projects, facilitates artisan cooperatives like the weaving group in this clip.