After the Show, it's the After Party.

On Thursday, I volunteered at the premiere of the documentary, "Down the Road." The film was a labor of love of one of my dearest friends, Joel Christensen. He, along with two others, traveled to Central America to film a documentary. They had no idea what they wanted to film; they simply departed with the goal of filming anything and everything, and hopefully returning to the States a few months later with a message to share.

The most powerful part of the documentary, to me, was the part the focused on La Chureca and the people who live there. La Chureca is exactly what this photo depicts: a trash dump. The people of this Nicaraguan "neighborhood" wait all day for the garbage trucks to arrive. When the trucks begin unloading the trash, the "citizens" of the dump scramble to collect items to eat, make clothes from and build their houses with. These humans live in this trash dump. Every single day, it is where they find their nourishment and shelter.

Joel and his traveling companions/fellow documentarians, Chris and Cody, were so moved by the people they met at La Chureca. They partnered with Brad Corrigan (formerly of Dispatch, currently of Braddigan), who started a non-profit organization called Love Light & Melody. His organization seeks to eliminate poverty, beginning with the eradication of the need for people to live amongst the trash in La Chureca. He started by saving young girls, many of whom were being taken from the trash dump and forced into prostitution. Joel, Chris and Cody were able to visit these girls and witness the impact Brad and Love Light & Melody have had on their lives.

Joel, Chris and Cody were able to help in Nicaragua by donating the car they had used on their Central American road trip (fondly nicknamed "La Tortuga," which is Spanish for "turtle," indicating its speed) to a sweet soul named Bismarck. This husband and father of two has worked every single day for six years in order to make ends meet. Bismarck not only spends his money on providing for his family but he uses it to better the lives of the street kids in La Chureca and Managua as well. He works as a chauffeur for the local Holiday Inn, and having his own car increased his profits by 60% (originally he had to give 60% of his earnings to the owner of the car he was using; now he can keep 80%, with the rest going to the Holiday Inn). The film showed that, one year later, Bismarck was using La Tortuga to get around town, to help his family and to save the children.

The film was amazing and I was so proud of Joel, Chris and Cody's efforts. Mike Miller was involved with the production of the film, and Eric Smith took fabulous photos and created an amazing Web site. It was fun to volunteer alongside Rose, Erin, Krystal, Christyn, Nick and Thomas. It felt great to support something that our loved ones have spent so much time creating. Almost 200 people came to Pepperdine's campus to watch the premiere. The evening was a huge success.

Afterwards, the film and volunteer crews headed to Duke's for an after party. Mom was in town, as previously mentioned, so it was so fun for me to introduce her to friends she'd heard about but never had the privilege of meeting. We all spent two hours snacking, drinking margaritas and laughing--a lot. At one point, while Nick and I were crammed onto the same chair at our lovely little table, we both paused and looked around at our beautiful group of friends and family. Nick commented on how happy it made him to see all of our busy selves joined together on a random Thursday night to celebrate the evening's success. I couldn't have agreed more. As I looked around the Barefoot Bar as things began to wind down (we were blissfully the only people there, considering we weren't competing with the Taco Tuesday crowd...and considering that the restaurant was technically closed...), I felt so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful, kind-hearted, passionate people.