The Slum Documentary Film Project

In recent weeks the crew of The Slum Documentary Film Project spent significant time filming in La Limonada and learning about the community. They were there to capture footage for the upcoming production and release of their documentary film project that will "shine the light on the huge issue" of extreme poverty in the slums of the world.

Here is what Mark Volkers, leader of the project, has to say...

How do you wrap your mind around one billion (that's one in six of us) living in slums? How do you begin to comprehend that in less than 20 years, according to the United Nations, two in six of us--or maybe even more--will be living in slums?

The Slum Documentary Film Project hopes to help people do just that by tracking three families in three slums on three continents.

The film crew will not only be filming 1 billion people, but individuals who happen to live in slums. Through their stories, we can begin to understand the masses.

Filming has already been completed with a family that lives under a bridge in Manila, the Philippines. Jose and Elvie Alquino and their six children sleep under a busy highway and spend their days digging through the city's garbage, looking for anything to recycle. It's a dirty, dangerous existence, yet through it all, this family has dreams and aspiration for their children and the future.

Tanya lives in La Limonada, Guatemala City. This dangerous slum of more than 60,000 people is not a friendly place for someone paralyzed from the waist down, yet somehow, Tanya manages to survive by begging at a busy street corner in the city.

The final shoot will be in a slum in Nairobi, Kenya.

Volkers hopes to release the documentary in mid-2010. Follow the film's progress through their blog or by becoming a fan on Facebook.

You will be hearing more about the project through Lemonade International in the months to come.