A Look at IVOH Summit 2008 - by Jim Paymar

Memorable, fascinating, inspiring, informative. None of those words measure up when describing the 2008 Images and Voices of Hope Summit held at Peace Village in the Catskill Mountains. The summit was a collage of feelings, thoughts, impressions and reflections that do not fit nicely into prose. For example:

What can one say about the riveting murals from Huong, a victim and survivor of the Viet Nam War. Her mural, a 30 foot expanse of raw emotions, a palette of color that tells the story of the horrors of war, a war she experienced personally through the murders of many of her family members.

Though her story tore at our hearts it was a story of hope of how she used her paintings, her images to help heal herself and to give to others so the pain and anguish of war that sears her soul might never be repeated.

You can see more of Huong's extraordinary work at www.huong.org.

They call Chris Jordan the "Garbage Man", but he doesn't mind at all! Chris is a former high profile attorney from Seattle, with a big concern for the environment. He wanted to do something more meaningful and creative with his life so he quit his job and started photographing America's enormous mountains of waste.

Chris takes the raw statistics about waste, that don't register when we hear them, and he magnifies photos to show us what the numbers truly mean. The results are astounding.

His photo Plastic Bottles, 2007 depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes

To view more of Chris' amazing work go to http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php to see the enormity of the world's wasteful ways.

Did you know elephants can paint? Yes, they can and they're quite talented and deliberate in creating art with a brush held in their trunks. The elephants of Asia are also painting to save their own lives as we learned at the 2008 Summit. Pictured here is 8-year old Hong from Chiang-Mai, Thailand, one of only three elephants who have learned how to draw other elephants. Photo by Anchalee Kalmapijit. AEACP 2008.

 David Ferris, the Director of Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project is helping to save the diminishing number of Asian elephants left on our planet. The project works with domesticated elephants they teach to paint. The AEACP raises funds through donations and the sale of artwork created by elephants in order to fulfill its mission. "10 year old female in Cambodia." Photo by David Ferris. AEACP 2008.

To learn more about the Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project go to:
http://www.elephantart.com/

What can one say about Jon Alpert, a visionary filmmaker who has been breaking new ground and bucking mainstream media for decades. After the Vietnam War, he was the first American TV reporter to film in Vietnam. He made the first American documentary about Cuba after the 1959 revolution. When Fidel Castro came to address the United Nations in 1979, Alpert's team was the only non-Cuban group of reporters allowed access to Castro. After the Gulf War, Jon was the only American reporter to interview Saddam Hussein.

Alpert who heads up the Downtown Community Television Center in New York City showed us his latest work "Baghdad ER" a riveting presentation of U.S. Army surgeons at work in Iraq. The video was disturbing, yet revealing. The documentary showed the brutal savagery of war but also the miracles that take place in saving the lives of brave, young soldiers.

For more on Jon and his incredible work check out his web sit at: http://www.dctvny.org/

How many of us can trace our family history back to Ellis Island? Millions of hopeful souls poured through its gates to begin a new life in a promised land called America. But there is an untold story about this gateway. The story of those who were sick and suffering as they entered the sprawling Ellis Island hospital complex for medical treatment before they were allowed to enter their new nation

Boston producer Lorie Conway obtained exclusive rights to film the decaying hospital complex before it undergoes a massive rehabilitation. She produced a documentary and a book titled "Forgotten Ellis Island", revealing the triumph of the human spirit as people were cured of illness and disease to then begin a new life in America.

For more on Lorie and "Forgotten Ellis Island" go to www.forgottenellisisland.com and learn about her film and book.

Steve Hartman of CBS News has a simple way of finding national stories! He throws darts over his shoulder at a map, goes to that location, and finds the subject of his next story in the local phone book. His stories are heartwarming, endearing and always interesting as he explores America in much the same way that Charles Kuralt did decades ago.

For a closer look at Steve Hartman and his work go to the following link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/16/broadcasts/main509349.shtml

If you ever doubted journalists can bring about radical change, think again. Maude Beelman, an award winning journalist and her investigative team at the Dallas Morning News, uncovered a brutal scandal at the Texas Youth Authority that included sexual abuse, failed leadership and questionable business practices. The coverage helped compel state legislators to reform the youth authority in the biggest overhaul of that system in more than a decade.

For an in depth look at the TYC scandal and changes made go to the link below:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/photography/2007/tyc/

The news business is undergoing radical change. TV and newspaper operations are shrinking as viewers and readers drift to the Internet and ad revenues shrink. Maura Casey, a member of the New York Times Editorial Board, discussed the transformation as well as the internal workings of the editorial board of the world's preeminent newspaper.

Maura J. Casey has been an editorial writer specializing in New England issues for more than two decades. She won Scripps-Howard's Walker Stone Award for her editorials on the Massachusetts Corrections Department and contributed to stories for which the staff won the Pulitzer Prize. She won the Horace Greeley Award for public service journalism for her editorials on weaknesses in Connecticut laws affecting children.

This is the link to the New York Times editorial page:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/editorials/index...

Music as a healing force in the world. That is the mantra of award winning composer and producer Gary Malkin. He spoke at the Summit of his passion for the humanizing role that music and the arts can play in society's institutions. He also entertained us with heartwarming and spiritual songs.

To learn more about Gary Malkin and Wisdom of the World go to the following web site:
http://www.wisdomoftheworld.com/

Those who attended the 2008 Images and Voices of Hope Summit say this was the most successful event since the first summit was held back in 1998. It's never to early to get ready for next year. We hope to expand our horizons even further. If you cannot attend, we plan to make the summit available via webcast!