My name is Zayna Abi-Hashim, a Television Producer for Wondros Productions/Articulus Entertainment here in Los Angeles, California. We are currently working on a documentary series project in association with the Starkey Hearing Foundation (http://www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org/) that profiles international organizations and celebrity philanthropists who are doing amazing work to improve the state of our world.

One city of our thirteen, will be in Beirut, Lebanon where the Starkey Foundation will be fitting free hearing aids to those who cannot hear from April 24th – 29th. The Starkey Foundation is not directly related to the NGO that we film, we just piggyback with them to the Countries that they visit and we are beyond thrilled to feature Lebanon.

We believe that your Organization is doing wonderful and amazing work in Lebanon. We would love to talk to you more about this opportunity in detail to see if you could provide a Project that you have always wanted to do that we could highlight during our time there with you and film on camera. This Project would ideally be a hands-on Project taking 2-3 days for our 2 American Volunteers to help complete while connecting with the locals and NGO Representatives. We will film the entire thing and experience it through the eyes of our Volunteers – perhaps it is a Project that you have always wanted to do but haven’t been able to due to lack of funding (we will make a donation). We also film ‘day in the life’ segments with locals so the viewer can experience the intimacy and real look into the lives of the people. We have just built a school in Haiti with the President, initiated silk-worm hut practices in Madagascar, placed artificial reefs for endangered octopus with local fisherman in Mauritius, have outfitted a school bus into a mobile classroom for street kids in India and built solar water pumps in rural South Africa.

We are very excited about this Project. I realize our filming is happening soon, so we would want to brainstorm some activities our Volunteers could showcase while with you at your soonest convenience. We will soon have a Local Fixer working out all our logistics and my advance team of 3 would be arriving April 11th to help get everything set up for the filming.

I look forward to your response at your soonest convenience!

Please read below for more information about our documentary series. I’d love to set up a time to talk or Skype to discuss this project in more detail as soon as possible.

Please let us know if you have any questions. My contact info at the bottom of this email. Thank you! -Zayna Abi-Hashim

“MAKING A DIFFERENCE”
A Transformational Documentary Series for Television

The Starkey Hearing Foundation and Wondros have embarked on an
ambitious mission: to bring together 13 of the most significant and
innovative philanthropic organizations in the world to participate in
a television series that demonstrates global goodwill in meeting the
most challenging issues in the world today.

The series will provide a window into a the world of a high-profile,
internationally funded mission. It is a journey that will involve
senior hearing specialists, entertainment stars (including Miley Cyrus
and Hilary Swank), and world philanthropists and leaders (such as
Richard Branson and Bill Clinton).

In this dramatic, transformational 13-episode television series, the
Starkey Hearing Foundation will see these passionate agents of change
join forces with NGOs around the globe to work on sustainable projects
that address complex development issues. The journey will include six
young Americans who will be exposed to the world of international
development for the first time. The efforts of these youths will not
only have immediate positive impacts on targeted communities–from
exploring solutions to water pollution in India and broken housing in
Haiti to improving education systems in Senegal–but will also
contribute to a showcase of international best-practice and innovation
in the development sector.

This journey will reach the emotions of a broad audience in a way that
plaintive appeals never can. Each episode will follow two development
projects. The first project is the Starkey Foundation’s core mission
—bringing together the hard of hearing and fitting them with free
hearing aids in some of the most isolated parts of the world. Through
this, the series will be touching lives and connecting people on a
one-to-one basis. The cast and celebrity hosts will use this
opportunity to discuss local conditions with community members and
join a partner NGO in implementing a project addressing the issues
raised. The race to get that project running, the resulting benefits
from it, and the celebrities and leaders who roll up their sleeves
next to the youth volunteers, will be a powerful eye-opener for the
younger generation.

Over the course of the series, we will see lives and communities
change in a way that no social documentary series has ever captured.
The series will expose the audience to some of the greatest efforts on
our planet to make good on humanity’s promise to itself — to make the
world a better place. This series will do no less than expose global
good will to a broad audience and spur volunteerism and donations for
profiled organizations and international institutions at large.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!