So what does it take to prep for something like this?

Visa's and immunizations
all clear (JLewis, TDRF)

There was a long checklist, which included visa's, immunizations, organizing all work with the research groups in each of the countries we were going to film in, classes and tons of reading for Jennifer (who was the person heading to the field for this project) to get her ready to film, and then gathering of the right equipment. Oh yeah….and organizing all travel arrangements. With about a month and half of headway…..we had just barely enough time to get everything ready….but we did it!

Because Jenifer was doing the trip solo, she had to make sure she could actually carry all film equipment on her, throughout. Below is the scary picture of her apartment the night before she took off. But she did it.. and hauled it all in a backpack believe it or not.  

Film equipment that must fit into a
 backpack….sure! (JLewis, TDRF)

While Jennifer was on the ground in Asia solo, she was never really alone. The TDRF team at home was working hard to make sure 1) She had access to information she needed (for example…what was the story behind the political unrest in Nepal and Bangladesh?), (BIG thanks to Rachael Payton whose first job as a TDRF intern was to be the information source for Jennifer while in Asia) and 2) That someone was monitoring her movement to ensure her safety (BIG, BIG thanks to Jordan Blair our VP and to Maribeth Monge). Other TDRF staffers (Jacqueline Loevenich, our secretary and Danielle Jones, our treasurer) took over the twitter feeds and Facebook site (which Jennifer had been running) to make sure we still could get news out to those who follow us.