La Mancha Media

Filming a World of Hope One Mission at a Time

2020-03-04T07:57:00.000-08:00

Featured

Video of Good Shepherd Clinic generates new medical volunteer from Britain.

La Mancha Media is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non profit corporation. LMM provides free video shorts for the internet to small and underfunded organizations; particularly to those where Americans have given up the comfortable life to serve the poor and dying. We never charge the organizations any money for our services. We travel there, film there for up to several days, edit and host the videos all free of charge to the organization. Normally small film production companies would charge three to five thousand dollars and above for similar services. LMM currently relies on just a handful of generous donors to continue this work so any help would be greatly appreciated.

We have been to Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. We have plans to film throughout Central America and into Africa, Asia, etc. in the years to come.

If you know of an organization that would benefit from our services please email or call us. And if you know of a donor that can help us carry out our mission please contact us as well. Again, we can't emphasize enough, these videos cost money and time to make, and they help these charities enormously. So please consider giving to LMM to help us continue.

If you are a videographer, editor, musician or other media professional (or pro amateur) and would like to volunteer your services please contact us as well.

Comments

2020-03-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

The lovely documentary that you have assisted us with will no doubt help us to better inform the public of our vital function and goal. With so many worthy charities to choose from, hopefully this will make a decision about involvement with our cause an easier one for the public, as a result ensuring our continued success. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Management and staff and most importantly the patients that we serve daily, THANK YOU! --Yvette Burks, National Coordinator, BERT

I am not sure how I found your web site at La Mancha Media, I watched your videos and I greatly admire your work. I find we have several things in common. I am from the emergency room physician from the Tipp City, Ohio and have a great deal of international medical experience especially in the Caribbean having practiced in Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Australia, Bermuda, St. Thomas, Bahamas, St. Croix, Cameroon and Belize. I recognize many of the places you were in Belize.-- Stephen Huffman, Physician and Author

I watched the clip that you put up about the Good Shepherd Clinic the other day; I didn't realize that you had that up already! A few people told me that there was a picture up, but I didn't realize there was a video up already. It's great!... I was just looking at your page on facebook and I saw the email from the doctor interested in doing some filming about medical missions. Do you think he would be a good contact as far as finding doctors to come volunteer? -- Head Nurse, Good Shepherd Clinic, Belize

Thank you for doing the videos. They have already helped the ministry in a variety of ways. (This emailed followed an usolicitated generous donation from Mr. Leong.)--David Leong, Father to Kristin (and fundraiser) of Rivers of Mercy.

It is interesting but after Sunday Mass I picked up a flyer specifically for that orphanage (Santa Maria). The flyer was nice and simple, with a brief description of the mission (SMM) and its work on the front and back of the folded flyer, and with pictures in the center of the flyer. I can see what an amazing difference there is in learning about the mission through viewing your video short compared to reading the flyer. Viewing the video is much more inspirational and informative. One just gets such a better perception of the reality of this mission. It is real and personal. I think these videos will help tremendously in the fundraising efforts of these organizations.--Maria Martinez, Nurse Practitioner, Bay Area

I am looking for a better understanding of orphanages abroad. It seems like you have visited many different organizations and I am hoping to speak with you about getting involved in one of these agencies. I have researched many different organizations and am struggling to find the one for me. Please let me know if you can help.--Keenan Ryan, Recent Graduate, Univ. of Notre Dame

Nice job on the video... Changing the world isn't all that bad a thing to do! --Rich Sabreen, Managing Director, Institute for Media and Entertainment, New York City

Thanks also for making our celebration different and unique. That presentation of the [orphanage] video turned out to be good inside for my siblings. They have some ideas and are now taking very seriously how to make the difference about other people's necessities. --Diana Chambers

Thank you for sending me this information [about LMM]. I will do what I can to spread this good news about the work you are doing and the people who are involved in these projects. God's blessings upon your work! --Bishop Conley, Archdiocese of Denver

I have been watching all of your videos...they are very moving, touching, inspiring..they are so real...I am sure they will touch many lives. Maybe some day I'll be able to volunteer at an orphanage like one of these... --Vinita Raja

Thank you for working so fast on this...we are in dire need of a response.... You are doing way above and beyond the call of duty. You don't know how encouraging your work is to us at the orphanage. You are more than welcomed to come at Christmas...Thank you again for all of your effort, may God reward you now and later. I send you and your family God's blessing. --Fr. Mike Sanchez, Santa Maria Orphanage

...Thank you so much for the time and effort that you are dedicating to do this in order to help our ministry. We had a great time spending a few days with you here at the children's home. We are looking forward to seeing more posts and eventually the video short!... --Kristin Robles, Founder of Rivers of Mercy Children's Home

Contact

2020-03-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

Please feel free to contact us at our local address:

La Mancha Media
P.O. Box 83986
San Diego, CA 92138

Or phone direct to:
T: 760.651.2231

F: 760.651.4354

Email us (email is image to prevent those pesky robot spammers):

About

2020-03-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

La Mancha Media is a California nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax exemption corporation. Its purpose is to film in orphanages and other service projects in order to create video shorts that those entities can use in their fundraising efforts. Presently LMM does not charge for its services but rather relies on generous contributions of others. LMM will also create full feature documentary shows for TV.

Eventually we hope to obtain large corporate donors, grants and benefactors to fund LMM so that we can film in as many entities as possible.

Our Board consists of Heriberto Schoeffer, a film producer, of Immi Pictures; Ed Bremar, a businessman, of Bremar and Associates; Mike Ross, a mechanical engineer, of Fallbrook Technologies; and David Whalen. On our Advisory Board is Cintya Ramirez, a Mexican lawyer from Guadalajara; and Maria Rodriguez-Radablan, a film producer, of Hero Pictures.

David Whalen is also President & CEO of LMM, as well as its founder. He also practices as a licensed California attorney.

Joe Morse is our website guru. His website creation company is
Code Interactive.

Kaelin Corina is our Art Director. An artist out of Ithaca, NY.

If you have a person or program that would benefit from being filmed please contact us at 760.651.2231 or email us.

Our Federal EIN is 26-3443066. We can provide you a copy of our Tax Exempt Letter upon request.

Video of Good Shepherd Clinic Updates

2010-03-04T11:29:00.000-08:00

I have recently received various emails about the Good Shepherd Clinic video shot last year. A young medical professional from Britain saw it and has apparently volunteered. See below.

1. A volunteer wants info on going to the clinic:

"Hi David,

I am a 5th year medical student from Imperial College London and I was wondering if you might be able to help me. I am trying to find a way of getting in contact with The Good Shepherd Clinic in Belize and I saw the video on your website. I was wondering if you had any telephone/email contact details for them? I am currently trying to organise my medical elective for this coming October in Belize and would really like to see whether it would be possible to spend some time at this clinic.

I look forward to hearing back from you

Kind regards

Anna Weil"

--------------------------------

2. An email from Christina Maiale, first assistant nurse at the clinic for over 2 years:

"Hi David
So a woman came down to visit us yesterday who had seen the video
online- thanks for that again! ... The [video] is
definitely getting us some attention, so thank you!

Take care,
Christina Maiale

Homes for Haiti

2010-02-25T11:35:00.000-08:00

Here is a great story about housing in Haiti. Includes a short video. They will hopefully be building small houses there that can withstand hurricanes and earthquakes.

Link to Miami Herald Story and Video

LMM Updates? Filming in Haiti?

2010-01-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

Some people have asked about this website and why it has not been updated. They have also asked if I am going to Haiti to film.

Just to let you know. There will be updates to the site coming, including two charity videos. I recently moved and have been busy getting my life together which takes away from the charity. I also ran into serious unexpected financial snags which are making things difficult. Having few donations makes the project near impossible to finish quickly. But rest assured a movie is being made as well as a book of some kind. I am working on a 10 minute demo reel of the documentary (from the Moises story and the times in Central America) and with it will look for investors and an editor. An editor would be a gift from God!

Regarding Haiti. How sad for this to happen to an already depressed place, for so many people to die. I went to Mass the other day at a local Haitian church and half the people there were shaking their heads and crying.

A couple people have asked me if I am going to film there. I would like to go but there are several obstacles: 1. I film stories of people helping others. I don't know of anyone personally that is doing that though there are so many (here is a fascinating clip of CNN lead medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta helping a baby there). 2. I cannot afford to donate more of my own money to LMM and to run up debt would be irresponsible, especially given that I have to finish what I have started with the past missions I have filmed. 3. Its not a good idea for people to go that are not essential right now as there is a rescue effort currently ongoing; I don't want to impede that.

If there is anyone reading this who would like me to go, I would be willing to in the next few weeks but would need enough money to live on for a week or two, a round trip flight, and security costs. I would also need a contact, someone who I could film, such as an American doctor or nurse who wants to help.

Thank you to all LMM fans out there and please feel free drop me an email to let me know how you are doing.

Update: Here is an article in the New York Daily, entitled, "Haiti TV coverage: Reporters saving lives is good, but selling it on TV feels bad" about journalists in Haiti making money from the suffering of others. It is a well thought out piece. If I can find a way to go during the rebuilding, I would like to. This is more the LMM story, rather then simple devastation photography.

Here is a quote from the article:

"The least flattering scenario for foreign media covering the Haitian earthquake is to be viewed as ambulance chasers who come in to take pictures of terrible suffering, transmit it back home to jack up their ratings, retire at night to their comfortable compounds, then in a few days leave altogether to chase the next ambulance.

"While the people of Haiti are left trying to put a country back together.

"It’s a safe bet that most of the reporters who have gone there are aware of that scenario and would like not to play it out.

"True, they won’t be staying to rebuild Port-au-Prince or teach classes for children whose schools were destroyed.

"But most reporters, while they’re on the scene, are inclined to help where they can.

The Belize Prison & Kolbe Foundation Part I

2009-09-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a look inside the Belize Central Prison run by the Kolbe Foundation. This is Part I of three parts. Look for the others to follow. Please see their website to help here. To donate please visit the Word at Work organization in Texas here.

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CBS News: Locals Save Belize Boy

2009-08-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

A CBS news story on Moises going home here. They used some of our footage at the beginning and gave us a credit on screen. It was a great going away party. I will write about it later. I have tons of great footage. The Word at Work has been great allowing me access.

David Whalen @ LMM Dinner

2009-08-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

Audio of Presentation

If the player is not working click here.

Pictures of Event

Elena Stonehouse, MC

David Whalen, Director of LMM

Joe Morse @ LMM Dinner

2009-08-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

Audio of Presentation

If the player is not working click here.

Intro & Cintya Ramirez @ LMM Dinner

2009-08-14T19:10:00.001-07:00

Audio of Presentation

If the player is not working click here.

Follow LMM

2009-08-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

More ways to follow LMM on social networking sites. You can also find the links the left column of the website.

Facebook

Twitter (will break news and update details like equipment purchases, etc)

Vimeo (main video host site for LMM)

You Tube (some videos under 10 minutes posted there)

Picasa (will be updated in the months ahead with hi res pictures from my new DSLR, the Panasonic GH1)

RSS (my personal favorite way to follow many sites in one reader)

Email from the Belize Emergency Response Team

2009-08-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

Dear David:

As Belize Emergency Response Team, (BERT), diligently strives to provide increasingly improved pre-hospital care to the Belizean Public by air and land, we are exceedingly appreciative of the contribution of selfless individuals such as you! As a struggling non-profit organization our very survival depends on the generous donation of the caring local and international community - from ambulances to volunteer hours!

On behalf of the Board of Directors, Management and staff and most importantly the patients that we serve daily, THANK YOU!

Sincerely,

Yvette Burks

National Coordinator

www.bertbelize.org

---

Video link here.

Email from The Good Shepherd Clinic

2009-07-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

Here are portions of an email I recieved from Christina Maile of the Good Shepherd Clinic. To see the video we shot there click here. Doctors and residents pay close attention. She is looking for some good doctors to come on medical missions.

"I watched the clip that you put up about the Good Shepherd Clinic the other day; I didn't realize that you had that up already!.. It's great! ...

"Here's what's happening at the clinic: ...we will have visiting doctors coming down from the states to staff the clinic. Now we just have to find some doctors! My hope is to find a few doctors who would be interested in bringing their residents down for a month or two at a time every year. It would be a great experience for them and it would obviously be a great asset to the clinic. We already have one doctor who is interested, but need to find quite a few more. So please keep me updated on your documentaries; I think it could be a great way to raise some interest in the clinic from doctors and others. At the moment I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to look for volunteer doctors, but I'm sure something will work out."

An Encouraging Email from a Physician

2009-07-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here is an encouraging email from a physician who is also a published author. He is interested in creating a television show for medical missions.

"I am not sure how I found your web site at La Mancha Media, I watched your videos and I greatly admire your work. I find we have several things in common. I am from the emergency room physician from the Tipp City, Ohio and have a great deal of international medical experience especially in the Caribbean having practiced in Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Australia, Bermuda, St. Thomas, Bahamas, St. Croix, Cameroon and Belize. I recognize many of the places you were in Belize. I was there for two months a couple of years ago volunteering at a clinic in the Punta Gorda in the Toledo District in southern Belize. I was there with my wife and five children. I just returned from there again, I took 15 high school students to help build a school for a Jesuit priest that is a friend of mine. I have also taught medical students in Japan and Mexico. I have recently published a book titled ‘Caring for the World: An International: A Guidebook to Global Health Opportunities’. It was published by the University Press and is available at Amazon Book. I have come up with a pitch for a television show but not being in the business I have not been able to find any one to listen to the idea. I see the show to promote great organizations and individuals doing great things around the world, very similar to the videos you do for free for these nonprofit organizations."

Joshua Bell in the DC Metro Subway

2009-07-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a fantastic article (and video) and it relates to the goal of LMM: to highlight others who have given up their comfortable life to serve others. These folks are often cast aside as not important anymore to us here in the U.S. We want to see flash and modernity, substance is not that important, its all about the style. Joshua Bell is one of the best violinist's in the world but for a social experiment decided to play incognito as a homeless man in a DC Metro station. He played some of the most complicated music ever composed by Beethoven and others on a 3.5 million dollar Stradivarius. Who noticed? Hardly a soul. He earned about $32 from people dropping change in his hat and walking on; this is a guy who gets $100 per seat when he plays professionally. Several children noticed, but their mothers quickly pulled them away, as to not get to close to a homeless man.

Here is the Pulitzer Prize winning article and included is a small video.

"If you don't do the right thing, the clinic will suffer": LMM works?

2009-07-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

A strange thing happened the other day which at first made me mad, but that I see positively now. Someone I do not know, nor had any contact with, viewed the video "The Good Shepherd Clinic" (this video is getting a lot of hits just in the past week, being discovered and emailed around some 3 months after it was posted), and was so motivated after watching it, decided to donate a fair amount of money to that charity. This someone, a woman whose name will remain anonymous, clicked on the Donate button on the LMM website where she saw the video. The Good Shepherd Clinic has no website or any way to donate online directly (I only have a address for people to send to). She thought she was giving the money to the Good Shepherd Clinic. Five minutes after she completed the donation she realized she had made a mistake. Within seconds she promptly sent an email and phoned our office line, and asked for a refund, saying she made a mistake. At the end of the email she said "please do the right thing" in returning the money, and if you don't "the clinic will suffer". This made me mad since myself and others had donated a lot of time and money to making this video possible for people just like her to help the clinic, and she was thinking she had to appeal to my conscience to return money to her she mistakenly sent to me, never even giving me a chance without a little lecture, as if I had done something wrong.

Of course I sent the full refund immediately to her and was quite upset for a little while, thinking that people seem to be ungrateful for the work we do. She would have never seen the Clinic by video if not for LMM. Now she is motivated to give to the clinic because of it. It was as if LMM was somehow in the way.

But after a day of reflection I see this incident as a positive sign that in fact LMM is doing what its supposed to be doing. It is giving these small charities a venue, a marketing tool on the internet, so that others can see with their own eyes what is going on there; rather then pictures and text, they see in full HD what is happening, and they are motivated by the videos to give. They are not motivated to give to LMM. The whole point is to help the charities get donations, not LMM. LMM is irrelevant to the viewer. And it should be.

So to me, and to those of you out there wondering how it is LMM is helping anybody by making videos, here is some proof for you.

Of course LMM needs money. But it needs it from people who see the value in marketing and self reliance. People that see they are giving a indirect gift to the charity to help that charity help itself in raising money. To people that see the value of putting the charity and the viewer together and drawing an emotional attachment between the two, such that they will want to give.

A Thank You to LMM Donors

2009-07-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

LMM has recieved a few generous, unsolicited, and very unexpected donations recently:

1. The Triad Foundation in Ithaca, New York: $1600
2. David Leong (father of Kristin Leong of the Rivers video), Rio Rancho, New Mexico: $400
3. Isabella Corina, Ithaca, New York: $100
4. Various other donors that wish to remain anonymous.

I personally want to thank all of you very much. You are helping these charities in which we film tremendously. Your giving is an indirect way to help them. Your money does not go directly to the poor, orphans, etc., but it goes to the production of a video, a tool, that each charity can use free of charge to help in their own fundraising efforts. So thank you from LMM and thank you from the charities in which we film.

Sincerely,

David Whalen
Director, LMM

Families Into Homes Partnership

2009-07-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

Here is the Families Into Homes Partnership located in Benque Viejo Del Carmen, Belize, near the Guatemalan border. They build houses for those in need and give them no interest loans to pay back allowing them to avoid the ravages of high interest rates that are common in Belize. See their brand new website here (video up soon).

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Music by Bertjerred "ooh nice" Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 3.0.

bertjerred / CC BY-NC 3.0

The Belize Emergency Response Team

2009-07-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here is the Belize Emergency Response Team (BERT) (www.bertbelize.org) located in Belize City. They serve the entire country of Belize, rapidly flying to all outposts in Belize that roads inadaquately serve, picking up the sick, and flying them back to Belize City, where is located the only hospital in the country. They are a private company, a non profit, not funded by the government, other then a stipend. A U.S. tax deductible gift can be made to BERT through the Wagner Foundation, 1657 Church St, Lyons, WI 53148, T:262-763-2017. Please contact John Woods if you would like to assist BERT at john@cisco.com.bz.

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Archdiocese of Washington

2009-06-18T06:43:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the Archdiocese of Washington for the praise on the recent Belize video posted here. Take a look at their post here.

Multimedia Journalists Discover Life After Newspapers

2009-06-15T07:34:00.001-07:00

Multimedia Journalists Discover Life After Newspapers

Shared via AddThis
As layoffs continue to decimate newsrooms all over the country, a pressing question for staff photographers is, what is plan B when the pink slip comes? How do you translate your photojournalism skills into some other means of earning a living?

A handful of former newspaper photographers with strong multimedia skills and some entrepreneurial drive are reporting at least one promising lead: the growing demand for story-driven video production from non-profits and corporations trying to build brands and markets through the Web in particular...

San Diego Union Tribune Article About LMM

2009-04-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here is an article about La Mancha Media by the San Diego Union Tribune entitled "Del Mar Lawyer Makes Videos to Help Poor in Central America" http://www.sdbackyard.com/content/archive/pdfs/090425_nc_backyard.pdf

Good Shepherd Clinic in Belize

2009-04-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of the Good Shepherd Clinic in San Jose Succotz, Cayo District, of Belize near the Guatemalan border on the western highway. La Mancha Media visited there in March 2009 and made this short film. The Clinic has no website. If you would like to donate to them email us and we can provide you with an address to donate to.

Note: If you have an older computer toggle the HD button off. If the video is choppy, press pause for a minute or two before resuming play to give it time to download. It's HD after all!

Map of San Jose Succoz near the Guatemalan Border

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