It’s a small world
GOING FOR A RIDE
There’s no doubt about it. The grand prize for the most annoying ride in amusement park history goes to Disney’s “It’s a small world”. If you’ve ever given in to your begging six-year old, and entered this house of childhood horrors, you know what I’m talking about. The song “It’s a small world after all” will haunt you for the rest of your life.
Even though I’m not a big fan of this ride, every time I connect to the World Wide Web, I am reminded of its powerful message. Whether we realize it or not, we’re all connected. However -to paraphrase George Orwell- some of us are more connected than others. I was simply lucky to be born in The Netherlands, and as a result I have had easy access to resources others can only dream of. Today I live in the USA where (almost) anything is available 24/7. Thanks to the current economic downturn, some Americans have only now started to realize that their land of plenty is actually part of a global network of nations. And because of our interconnectedness, the devastating ripple effect of the subprime mortgage crisis is not only felt in Detroit, but even more so in the smallest villages of Africa.
Believe it or not, all of this went through my mind when I read a recent discussion about the investment needed to have a career in the voice-over world. Many of us -myself included- take it for granted that we must spend hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars, to even begin to compete with the big guns of this business. Hey, it’s all tax-deductible so what’s the problem, you might ask. Well, if you’re already complaining about forking over 300 bucks to get a simple VO-website listing, imagine you live in Nairobi, Uagadugu or Cairo! In Egypt, the average per capita income is around $5,400 per year (compared to $47,000 in the US). Of course the cost of living is much lower, but if you’re only making five thousand a year, how on earth are you going to afford $5,500 in, let’s say, “professional dues”? That is, if you wish to compete on a global scale.
GOING DUTCH
Ready for some good news? Some of you might know that I used to work for the Dutch world service, known as Radio Netherlands. Every year, people from around the world go to their training center in Hilversum for courses that “aim to enhance the professional knowledge, skills and attitudes of people working in or for the media, such as journalists, program makers, trainers and managers.” And it gets even better! For nationals from 61 countries it is possible to apply for a Netherlands Fellowship (NFP), whereby travel, accommodation and course fees are paid for by the Dutch government.
50% of the available fellowships are awarded to fellowships for female candidates, and 50% of the available budget is spent on candidates from sub-Saharan Africa. Apart from this, priority is given to candidates from deprived groups and/or from marginalized regions. NFP is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the budget for development co-operation (source: RNTC).
One of next year’s courses is called Creative ways of informing people (Radio & Internet – Television & Internet) and there’s still time to sign up. Even if you are “just” a voice-over talent, this could be your chance to get the experience you need to make it, and compete nationally and internationally. One thing’s for sure: you’ll not only learn a lot, you will make friends from all continents, cultures and creeds in an open atmosphere that very much resembles a mini-united nations.
For more information on the Dutch worldservice and the international training center, click the images in this blog and your computer will take you there.
And should you decide to sign up for one of the courses, I can assure you this: you’ll be in for the ride of a lifetime!
Paul Strikwerda © 2009
