Workshop Participants
Natasha Elkington
Photographer, Cinematographer
Natasha Elkington is a crisis reporter and online editor at the AlertNet humanitarian news service in London, run by Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the world's biggest news and information company. She was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya and moved to Canada for nine years where she completed her under- and post- graduate studies. She began her career as a journalist working as a television producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and later joined Thomson Reuters in 2006 as an online editor and general news reporter. She has also taken pictures for the Reuters wire and has done freelance work for various Canadian publications. Natasha's background is in the fine arts. She has reported extensively on humanitarian issues, especially those affecting Africa. She is also experienced in voice-over work. She has hosted a number of live dance and film events in Toronto and Nairobi. She speaks English, Swahili, and French and has a passion for multi-media.
Natasha participated in the July 2010 MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop. She had the following to say about her experience:
I don't think I have ever learned so much, worked so hard, sweated, laughed, cried, had so little sleep and lived a couple of lifetimes in only one week.
As I am writing this, the tears are coming because it was such and intense and amazing experience and now it's over... we are definitely not the same people we were before this course and we will never be same after this experience.
The week tested me in ways I did not think were possible. I learned more than I could even fathom and my passion for telling stories has only jumped a 1000 fold.
Training with MediaStorm has been one of the most grueling and rewarding experiences. I met so many amazing people from all walks of life and learned how to tell stories on a whole new level. I am definitely not the same person I was when I started the course. I'm happy to report, I really like this new me.
Exodus!!
Diana Ortiz spent over half her life in prison for a crime she committed when she was a teenager. Now 45, she has turned her life around and works to help other inmates rebuild their lives. Exodus is her story.