Google+"/> Skip to content

Author: Greg Kintz

Published on

When you think about films and filmmakers, you’re likely to also think of Hollywood, not the Plantersville community of Georgetown County, SC. That, however, is where independent filmmaker DeShantell Singleton lives and works. During a three-year stint in Los Angeles, where she was pursuing a career in front of the camera, the 20-something Singleton discovered what she really wanted to do: Work behind the camera as a producer, director and writer of her own films.

“I wanted to tell on film the stories that I felt needed to be told,” Singleton told Bhakti Larry Hough during an interview for Insight. “Inspiring stories help dispel stereotypes, inspire and elevate.”

Singleton said she particularly wants to work with and reach youth with her film art in order to encourage them to consider life paths that they may have thought were off limits to them. She has one short film to her credit, Before He Fell, and is currently working on her second, La Nanita, which tells the story of a defense attorney whose good intentions backfire after defending a woman on trial for the death of her son. She has received an Indie Grant from the SC Film Commission to help complete the project, but has also started an online fundraising campaign.

Listen to the interview with DeShantell Wednesday, Aug. 29th, at 10:00 am, 7:00pm, and midnight, or on Monday, Sept. 3rd, at the same times.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Published on

If you didn’t know any better, upon walking into the Freedom Reader’s site in Conway, you might question whether any learning is going on. The people here – adults and children – are having too much fun.

The music is pumping and one child, who looks to be about 8 years old, is dancing. While the aim of the program is to always make learning fun, today’s session is a little different; it’s a celebration of the accomplishments the children in the program have made during the summer session. One can rest assured, however, that these children and their tutors are serious about at least one thing – reading.

The mission of Freedom Readers, Inc. is to improve reading skills in low wealth communities by providing one-to-one literacy tutoring, free books for home libraries, and an inspiring, high-energy learning environment.

In the current edition of Insight, which is a short feature, Bhakti Larry Hough visits the Freedom Readers site at Huckabee Heights in Conway and speaks with founder and executive director Tracy Bailey, students and tutors.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Published on

On the current edition of Insight, Bhakti Larry Hough speaks with Mark Johnson, the spokesperson for LifePoint, the designated Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) for organ recovery services in South Carolina. LifePoint actively provides organ, tissue and ocular donor services to 62 hospitals throughout the state.

The need for organ donors has never been greater. Presently, there are more than 110,000 people on the national waiting list who need a life-saving organ transplant. Approximately 1,000 of those people are registered in South Carolina. Some of them die each day because the organs that could save their lives never become available.

South Carolina ranks second in the United States in the need for kidney transplants among African-Americans. Kidney failure is four times more likely to affect African-Americans than Whites. High blood pressure and diabetes increase the risk of kidney failure.

This edition of Insight airs Wednesday, August 15th, and Monday, August 20th, at 10:00 AM, 7:00 PM, and Midnight.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

2

Published on 2 Comments on Upcoming Programs and Topics, Aug. 9-12

Informational programs on Radio Baha'i are aired at 10:00 AM, 7:00 PM and midnight, every day. Below is the schedule of programs and topics for the next few days.

Thursday, Aug. 9 - National Institutes of Health Research Radio

  • News Update
  • Advances in adhesive technology for joint replacements
  • Colleges and communities can reduce alcohol-related harm to students
  • Parents can help their child have a healthy school year

 Friday, Aug. 10 - Parents' Journal (repeat from last Saturday)

  • Topic: Make Your Backyard Play Area Safe 
  • Guest: Donna Thompson, Executive Director of the national Program for Playground Safety
  • Topic: The Power of Play in the Preschool Years 
  • Guest: Marueen Obrien, author of Watch Me Grow: I'm One-Two-Three

Saturday, Aug. 11 - Parents' Journal

  • Topic: Help for Kids with Sensory Processing Problems 
  • Guest: Dr. Lucy Miller author of Sensational Kids
  • Topic: Babies are Born Learners 
  • Guest: Nina Sazer O'Donnell, early childhood learning specialist

Sunday, Aug. 12 - Peace Talks

  • An inspiring story of a man who turned his grief over his slain son into action to teach nonviolence to school kids.
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Published on

Today's edition of Insight looks at the state of children in South Carolina. Program host, Bhakti Larry Hough, interviews Bett Williams, Communications Coordinator for the Children's Trust of South Carolina.

South Carolina ranks 43rd overall for child well-being as compared to other states, according to the 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book. "We've got a lot of work to do in South Carolina in terms of child well-being," Williams, told Bhakti in the latest edition of Insight.

The 2012 Kids Count Data Book, released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation using a revised and expanded list of indicators, gives an in-depth look at the status of children in South Carolina in comparison to the rest of the nation.

Indicators were placed into four domains:

  1. Economic Well-Being
  2. Education
  3. Health
  4. Family and Community

"With the expanded list of indicators, increasing from 10 to 16, and framed into four domains, the state can better examine and more fully understand what it is doing well for children and where it can do better, Williams said.

South Carolina's highest ranking is under economic well-being with a rank of 34. Of particular concern, is the 23 percent increase in children whose parents lack secure employment and the 13 percent increase in children living in poverty since 2005. This means that one in every four children (278,000) children live in poverty. For a family of four, this equates to a household income of $23,050 or less. Research indicates that on average families need incomes at twice the poverty level ($46,100) to cover normal, expected expenses such as food, housing, childcare, and transportation. In South Carolina, one in every two children lives below this threshold.

The report also gives South Carolina some small rays of hope, especially in education and health, where there is a trend of improvements. There was a 31 percent decrease in children without health insurance, 25 percent decrease in teens who abuse alcohol or drugs, and a 15 percent decrease in the child and teen deaths.

There was also eight percent decrease in the number of children not attending preschool.

The positive numbers are a good sign, Williams said, but they should not give the state a false sense of success because there are far too many children in the state whose futures at risk.

The 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book with state-by-state rankings and supplemental data is available at http://datacenter.kidscount.org.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail