Bios
Sam Oliver
Having completed his first tv-length film project Sam Oliver knows first-hand how 2 women and a film maker from 3 different countries came together from opposite sides of the world to learn how to alleviate poverty. Moja Moja - a film by Sam Oliver tells a very warm and modern tale of what it takes to follow a dream - be it nurturing disabled children, building a business or simply making a movie. Born in the UK, Sam combines his passion for music and storytelling in a rather off-centre but spot-on narrative, Sam leads a team of like-minded specialists in the areas of sound, writing, film and video editing to create a stable of new projects for bloodredcolt in Vancouver and Toronto. Having produced and shot Moja Moja on two continents, Sam is seeking worldwide distribution for his 44-minute highly contemporary broadcast story.
Susan Standfield
Having spent 10 years learning how to produce broadcast television Susan Standfield made an important shift to apply her skills towards building enterprise in what is known as the ‘civil economy’. Combining her love of children, photography and Africa - Susan has embarked on a daunting journey of constructing a photo-based art gallery near Nairobi designed to generate revenue for orphanages in Kenya. “The dignity we choose to afford each person on the planet is right there for all of us to see in the margins of how we trade”, is the philosophy on which Susan is building The Children’s Photographic Gallery of Kenya. She believes that the spread of respectful, sustainable fair-trade commitments can rebalance global extremes of severe poverty and over-consumption. Susan was born in Vancouver Canada and plans, in order to grow the business, to split her time between the UK, North America and Kenya.
Grace Seneiya
The first time Grace Seneiya rescued a disabled child was when she was barely a teenager. Since then she has built an inspiring model of child care in the North Central region of Kenya that traditionally did not have a system of caring for disabled children. Using her skills and education as a rehabilitative teacher, Grace founded and manages SHERP - the Samburu Handicap Educational Rehabilitation Programme which acts as a community home for nearly 100 disabled kids from the surrounding region. Through Grace’s determination and example, the community has begun to change it’s perception of disabled children for the better. People come from all over the world to visit SHERP as a result of Grace’s passion to foster her community and provide a new model of learning for the future of the Samburu district. Grace lives near Maralal in the Samburu district of Kenya with her husband and three children.
