Outer Cove Productions

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Missions

Missions

Year	Country	Disease	Role and activities
1992	Nigeria	River Blindness (Onchoceriasis): This is a serious disease, which causes severe itching, disfigurement and finally blindness. Cause: Caused by the presence of worms in the body injected by the bite of a black fly. It is curable. Mission: To raise awareness about the disease and to encourage the people affected by the disease to take the medication as long as needed. Note: This film has been distributed to many countries in Africa.	Film director and producer, concept and script writer.
1995	Papua New Guinea	Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis) Cause: The disease is caused by worms injected into human victim by mosquito bites. It causes the legs, arms and sometimes breasts and testicles to swell up to grotesque proportions. It is a disfiguring disease. Mission: To document case registration and examination. To document the dissection of mosquitoes, to look for the microscopic worms that cause the disease.	As above
1996	Mali	River Blindness. This disease is present in over 30 African countries. Many countries are having major problems with distributing the medication although the medication is free of charge. Mission: To document a new method of distribution called the Community Directed Treatment (CDT). To show how the medication dosage was determined and who was considered suitable to be a community distributor and record keeper. Note: CDT was a big success, because the medical staff was satisfied with the new method of distributing the medication, which would ultimately defeat a disease that has been a scourge in the communities. The villagers were pleased to receive the medication with regularity.	As above
1996	Uganda	African Trypanosomiasis (Sleeping Sickness). This is considered a re-emerging disease, which was once better controlled than it is today. Cause: a bite from tse-tse fly. Mission: To film and document how to care for patients. Treatment and monitoring of the disease were carried out. School children were taught about the disease and its prevention, and how to make tsetse flytraps.	Film director and producer, concept and script writing.
1997	India	Substance abuse: This is a serious problem in several huge slum areas, resulting in family violence. Mission: To document the success of a program implemented by the police. To interview families affected including men who have been jailed, as well as families who have gotten back together as a result of the Navjoti (guiding light) program. The team attended counseling sessions. The Navjoti appeared to be working.	Film director and producer, concept and script writer, interview.
1997	Sudan Refugee Camp	Leishmaniasis, caused by a sandfly Mission: To have an in-depth knowledge of what measures were taken to contain and prevent the further outbreaks of the disease. To film in remote areas of the country at portable health centers. This was a stressful mission in a stressful environment. Many people were starving; children were so malnourished that they had almost no chance of survival. Despite of this desperate situation, there was calm behavior from villagers and medical staff. The team distributed what ever they had to help before leaving.	Film director and producer, concept and script.
1998	Kenya	Elephantiasis Mission: To document the examination and registration of cases. The disease carries a great stigma with it. The chances of getting married, especially for women, are greatly reduced if one is afflicted by the Elephantiasis. For this reason education and prevention methods are of great importance. Also documented was the education of school children about the disease, its causes and prevention.	As above
1999	Viet Nam	Good Manufacturing Practice Mission: To show that third world countries are as capable of producing top quality drug as the western world. The whole process of the drug manufacturing, from the arrival of raw material to packaging and shipping, was documented. Note: This film was distributed worldwide to encourage others to do the same.	As above
2000	Uganda	Ebola a hemorrhagic fever Mission: To document activities that took place in hospital, laboratory, the community, churches, schools and including safe burial practices. Visiting the villages to find out about the perception of the villagers regarding the disease. To prepare information for TV and radio channels which would inform communities about prevention of Ebola. Note: This film has been distributed to health agencies around the globe to show what happened and how to react should they be faced with a similar situation.	Film director and producer, concept and script writer, as well as writing a synopsis for TV and radio channels.
2001	Haiti and India	Elephantiasis and Leprosy. In Haiti there is a hospital that specializes in the treatment of elephantiasis. Doctors were exploring different methods of treating patients with the disease using a special antiseptic soap to wash the infected limbs and were getting good results but by no means a cure. Mission: To document the process of the new treatment and how people with leprosy were integrated into the work force.	Film director and producer, concept and script.
2001	Uganda	River blindness Mission: To document the new, effective method for distributing the medication. As a result, people seemed well informed and there seemed to be fewer new cases diagnosed with the disease than in previous years. Note: the film has been distributed to other countries and villages so they could duplicate the results.	Film director and producer, concept and script writer.
2003	Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines and China	SARS, a highly infectious disease the cure of which was unknown at the time. Mission: To find out more about the disease and how to prevent the spread of this unknown virus. To interview many people from different walks of life to learn what their roles were in preventing SARS. Note: Six weeks later a training film on infection control in a SARS environment was released. This film has been distributed to health care centers and medical schools.	As above
2004	Indonesia	Tsunami Disaster Mission: To document how WHO coordinated activities concerning health. To prepare two television scripts about diahorrea and tetanus, which affected thousands of people after the tsunami. The TV and radio stations aired the information to people on how to protect themselves against these conditions and prevent its spread.	As above
2004	Burkina Faso	Meningitis Mission: To film 7 to 8 lumbar punctures. Note: The film about a new "Lumbar Puncture Kit" and how it works is now being used all over Africa, in hospitals and healthcare centers to provide better and faster results during meningitis outbreaks.	As above
2004	Sudan	Ebola Because of the war in Sudan, we were based in Kenya. The UN has established a center for direct flight in and out of Sudan, taking food, supplies, medicine and anything needed in a war torn zone. Mission: To film the doctor’s wearing protective clothing and patients giving blood samples for analysis. To film the patients in isolation ward as well as procedures that were carried out.	As above
2005	East Timor	Dengue Hemorrhagic fever. This particular Dengue outbreak affected mostly children, who were screaming bleeding. Helpless parents were praying for their children. Mission: To produce a film which would be used for training on how to recognize the disease in its early stages. Note: This film has been distributed worldwide as an effective tool to fight this killer disease	Film director and producer, concept and script writer.
2005	Angola	Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever, which has no known cure at present. Mission: To show how infection is controlled and to identify good practice. A lot of time was spent in the communities filming the public reaction to the disease. Also filmed were church services where the priest preached about the disease and its prevention, and makeshift schools where children answer the teacher’s questions about the disease.	As above
2005	Liberia and Sierra Leone	Lassa Fever hemorrhage. This disease has re-emerged in these two countries and they were unprepared to fight it. Much work was done on Lassa Fever in the 1980's but because of years of war all research was stopped. When the UN peacekeepers set up in both countries after the war they reestablished efforts to fight the disease. Mission: To film the new hospital Lassa isolation ward and the new Lassa in Sierra Leone. Throughout the mission to Liberia and Sierra Leone people who were involved in the old and new Lassa program in these countries were interviewed. Note: This film is being used to raise funds to sustain the laboratory and the isolation ward.	As above
2006	Madagascar	Bubonic Plague. This deadly disease is caused by fleas found in rats. Mission: To document the testing of a quick diagnostic dipstick developed by the Institute Pasteur. The results of the test are available within minutes, unlike the old method which took 2 weeks. The dipstick method can be also carried out in less sophisticated environments. Filming was also done at big egg farm where several people had fallen sick with the Bubonic Plague. Note: The film footage shot in Madagascar has already been edited into a training film that has been distributed to centers throughout Africa and India.	Film director and producer, concept and script writer.

Other Activities

Country and Year	Activity	Topic	Presenter
2003 September Zimbabwe Harare	Seminar	Infection Control	G. N Smyth presented films produced for WHO and gave a presentation on the role of a filmmaker in disease outbreak situations.
December 2003 Paris	Seminar	Ebola	G. N Smyth Film presentation on the largest outbreak of Ebola in Uganda.