Wednesday, December 14

My First Blog Post

Wow! I cannot believe how far and fast my video has spread! The internet really is an amazing thing. I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has taken the time to watch it, especially those who have also shared it through Twitter, email, Facebook, or simply showed it to their friends and family. I am so delighted that this message about the importance of health and education for girls everywhere is being heard. I posted the video on my personal Facebook two days ago, and today I have already gotten 7,427 views on YouTube!

The movie took just over a month to create, from writing the script to filming the last frame. What moved me the most during this time was how eager the girls and women in my video (almost fifty of them!) were not only to step up and help out, but also to learn about these issues, some of which they had never before heard of or really understood. The movie-making process was absolutely a collaborative effort. Besides the fifty-ish girls actually in the video, my two sisters and my mom were also amazingly helpful. Sierra, 15, helped me color all of those signs (I'm not sure how many there actually were, but it felt like a billion). I am what my family likes to call “technologically handicapped,” so Celeste, 14, helped a lot with the videography, and my mom helped and is continuing to help with setting up and running the webpage. I could never have created this movie without everyone's help.

I have recently opened a Twitter account for It Only Takes a Girl (@OnlyTakesAGirl), and I am considering creating a Facebook page as well. I have been invited to be a guest blogger for www.shesthefirst.org and www.tresendas.com. Updates coming soon!

26 comments:

  1. Gabriella, great video! Have you seen http://www.Girl2Woman.org? It's a similar concept, but focused on the importance of reproductive health care to ensure that girls can stay in school and live healthy, productive lives. Every video shared through the site raises $1 for girls and women around the world. I hope you'll share and good luck with your video!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is so exciting and I know people are learning as they watch the video. So proud!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Terrific video. It was posted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution Get Schooled blog.
    http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2011/12/15/it-only-takes-an-educated-girl-to-change-a-family-a-nation/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello,
    I am a teacher at St. James Day School in Baton Rouge. I actually found your video through a post from a friend in Alexandria, VA. I am very impressed by your video. You did an excellent job.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on successfully creating an overnight phenomenon! We saw your video this morning and immediately shared on Facebook. By the end of the day many of our friends and family had joined us in making donations.

    I'm curious what inspired you to create the video and if you've ever done this before. I'm imagining it to be a school project which you surely aced!

    When I first saw the video I was moved to donate, but I didn't know where. I think you've added an overlay with that info since this morning. May I suggest that when you can, adding the http://www.girleffect.org/ url to the end of the video and/or in the text under it on YouTube would also be helpful.

    Again, congratulations on a fabulous project. Your family must be very proud.

    ReplyDelete
  7. And how cool is it that just a little over 24 hours later the views have already doubled? You ROCK!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I saw your video from a friend who shared it. It is exceptional. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I posted your video on a couple of my favorite Facebook pages. I hope it goes viral!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very powerful stuff. I had tears streaming down my face. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love your message and effort to spread the word and effect change. As a father of a little girl I only wish for her the best and brightest future. Cannot imagine how our global society has retained this dark and aged prejudice and desperate need for control and oppression of the human spirit. Now more then any time in history, the like minded can rise up and not demand change but enforce it by our will.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wonderful project. Your visuals make a powerful bond with the sound track. Also, Zoe Keating has a strong following nation-wide. And plenty of interest up here (Buffalo/Rochester) near the home of Susan B. Anthony.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great work, Gabriella! Please start a Facebook page. It's a good thing! xo

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love your video. My only complaint is that it would have been nice to see a bit more diversity in the girls and women in the video. Of course, I don’t know where you recruited your sign-holders from or whether you even had access to a more diverse group of women—but more ethnic diversity would have added to your message, especially since your emphasis is on what happens in the developing world, where white faces are not in the majority.

    ReplyDelete
  15. You are already changing the world. Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great Job...Your video sends such a powerful message!!!
    Here is a "small" suggestion. In order to increase the impact of this your message and bring hope around the world, it would be great if the video could be translated into other languages either through subtitles, or through a new video. Maybe there are those reading this that have connections.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It only took a girl! Thank you, Gabriella. Its spreading like wild-fire in NWLA. Proud that you are LA girl! Keep following your heart!

    ReplyDelete
  18. This was so moving...I cried a little bit. My friend is the superintendent of the Women's Rights National Park in Seneca Falls, NY and she sent this out to all of her friends. She's a Tulane grad, by the way, and we noticed the t-shirt and the shot in front of the School of Public Health.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Keep up the great work! Through your efforts you will continue to raise awareness of the strife suffered by so many of our "sisters" in this world. My gratitude goes out to you for your work...Lisa F.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Just to let you know that your message has reached Argentina (probably even a lot before I saw it). As an anonymous before, I cried a little too, and shared. Hopefully your efforts will help open many heads to the realities of so many women in the world. Congratulations on an AMAZING JOB!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I saw it in an education blog in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It gave me chills. I shared on facebook as well.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Connie Gray, Austin, TexasDecember 18, 2011 at 10:24 AM

    Great work! This speaks to people at a basic level. Featuring girls and women gives faces to facts. Keep it up; you are changing the world.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Loren, above, said "You are already changing the world." I agree. I came across your video today via a FB friend. Your video is so inspiring, so thought provoking, and really just an all-around great message. I look forward to seeing where it takes you next. Keep going!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Bravo. This issue is very close to my heart, and I wish you all the best.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Gabriella, I came across your beautiful video on Facebook, shared by some women I knew only from Facebook.
    I have reposted it on my Wall and asked others to do the same.
    You are a very inspiring young woman. Your family and friends must be very proud of you. I am delighted I am able to read your thoughts, and listen to the story you are trying to tell.
    I will do what I can to bring your work to the attention of others, in my country, and to the friends I've made across the world. In this way, we light torches, and send the truth of understanding around our different cultures.
    I would be honoured to know you. Are you on Facebook? If so, please look me up and see if you would like to be my friend.
    I wish you the best, in your personal life, and in this campaign. You have a great maturity of understanding the necessity of female education if we are to right any of the world's wrongs.
    Good luck, lovely woman.
    Kirsten Tona
    Sydney
    Australia

    ReplyDelete
  26. Nice job. If everyone made efforts like you're doing, what a world we would live in!

    ReplyDelete