'Seven Days' - a film about Mwandi village

In December 2005, Russell Brown, a filmmaker from Western Australia, and Jason Bray, a youth worker from Queensland, went to Mwandi village to film a documentary, with a particular focus on the work of Fiona Dixon-Thompson, a Uniting Church volunteer who has been in Mwandi for several years. There are significant numbers of orphans and semi-orphans in the village whose parents have died from HIV/AIDS. The Mwandi project includes a pre-school, drop in centre, feeding program, vegetable garden etc. It is a remarkable story of courage, vision and endurance, and has been captured in Russell's documentary, “Seven Days”. The fantastic news is that it has been officially selected into the Swansea Bay Film Festival in Wales in the Best Documentary category. Winners will be announced on June 8. As well, “Seven Days” has been nominated for Best Documentary at the WA Screen Awards. Winners are announced on March 23. Congratulations to Russell for highlighting both Fiona's work in Mwandi, and the challenges and joys of working in a small village in Zambia.
Fiona is a Volunteer in Mission with the Uniting Church in Australia. Some photos from Mwandi are featured on http://www.flickr.com/photos/peopleinmission.
For more information on the People in Mission program, contact Kathy Periera, People in Mission Coordinator, kathyp@nat.uca.org.au, Ph 02 8267 4230