Film examines health in Haiti

When novice filmmaker and philanthropist Kimberly Green thought she had completed the script for her first documentary, a colleague looked at the 500-page screenplay and asked her if she was insane.

Green eventually came to her senses and shortened the script to a manageable 30 pages. After three years of filming and editing, she will present her finished documentary, titled "Once There Was A Country: Revisiting Haiti," tonight in the Friend Center.

The 55-minute film, narrated by author Maya Angelou and her son Guy Johnson, sheds light on the health-care crisis in Haiti, currently the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere.

"Poverty has led to the proliferation of diseases," Green said in a phone interview. "What we wanted to show was a positive and hopeful look on this problem."

Green and her film crew went to Haiti to begin their project in April 2002. For two years, they tracked two households — a family of eight and a single man — as they fought tuberculosis and AIDS with the help of a healthcare program called Project Medishare.

Project Medishare offers Haitians stipends that enable them to buy seeds and start small businesses. Parents can then afford to send their children to school where they can receive healthcare education. The program also provides health services like immunizations, family planning and referrals to clinics.

"What we've seen is that people who haven't seen the future past the next day are now planning business and their long term futures," Green said.

Green was initially inspired to film "Once There Was A Country" after thinking "how interesting it would be to profile an immigrant to the U.S. from a war-torn country and then visit the native country."

She started looking around Miami, where she resides, and people in the enclave of Little Haiti informed her of doctors who had begun the Project Medishare program in Haiti.

"I first went down [to Haiti] with a skeleton camera crew and was so moved that I came back to the U.S. and had to get more involved," Green said.

In addition to making a documentary, Green has contributed directly to the Haitian community. As the director of the Green Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization established by her father, Green spearheaded a collaborative effort with Project Medishare.

Green recognizes that the destitution in Haiti is not exclusive to one country.

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"What the film represents is a microcosm of what's going on all over the world as a result of global poverty," she said. "Haiti happens to be unique because it was the first black independent country in the world. It won its own sovereignty but in turn was completely marginalized and oppressed by the rest of the Caribbean and the U.S. out of fear of slave revolts occurring elsewhere."

Green said that Maya Angelou was enthusiastic to bring the story of Haiti to a global audience and dispel the stigma enshrouding the country.

"What got [Angelou] involved was the fact that this isn't an exploitive piece — there are shocking images but they don't disrespect the dignity of Haiti," Green said.

"Once There Was A Country" has been screened at several film festivals, but Green stressed that the documentary was not designed to win over film critics.

"The focus has been to get in front of audiences who have the ability and drive to change the world," she said. "People go into [film] festivals to critique [the film], but when we get it in front of medical students or engineering students, they have the ambition or hope to sign up for a summer and do hands-on work."

She hopes university students will realize the potential to affect people in other countries.

"There's a drive for combining intellect and community service abroad," Green added. "[Americans] don't have the best representation overseas, and I feel this type of work is what will make people remember how great the U.S. is."