Valdivia: Stories of Survival
From: Terrascope Radio
Series: Terrascope Radio Major Features
Length: 23:26
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- Valdivia: Stories of Survival
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A group of MIT freshmen travel to Valdivia, Chile, a city that in 1960 experienced the most powerful earthquake in recorded history--9.5 on the Richter Scale--followed by a devastating tsunami. While there, the students explore three stories of survival: The ecological survival of a unique wetland created by the earthquake/tsunami; the cultural survival of the Mapuche, the local indigenous people; and the personal survival of those who lived through the disasters of 1960.
An excerpt of this piece, "Surviving a Tsunami: The story of Valdivians in 1960," focusing on the personal stories of tsunami/earthquake survivors, is also available on PRX.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
A group of MIT freshmen travel to Valdivia, Chile, a city that in 1960 experienced the most powerful earthquake in recorded history--9.5 on the Richter Scale--followed by a devastating tsunami. While there, the students explore three stories of survival: The ecological survival of a unique wetland created by the earthquake/tsunami; the cultural survival of the Mapuche, the local indigenous people; and the personal survival of those who lived through the disasters of 1960. An excerpt of this piece, "Surviving a Tsunami: The story of Valdivians in 1960," focusing on the personal stories of tsunami/earthquake survivors, is also available on PRX.
Timing and Cues
Suggested host intro:
[Host] The following piece was produced by four MIT freshmen who traveled to Valdivia, Chile over spring break. They went to study the effects of tsunamis and earthquakes within the area as part of a yearlong course?Terrascope?focusing on complex environmental issues. Valdivia lies within Chile?s ?lakes region,? one of thirteen Chilean provinces. They were hosted by professors and students of the Honors Program at the Universidad Austral de Chile. We join them in Valdivia?s central marketplace.
Musical Works
Title: Plata
Artist: Beatriz Pichimalen
Album: Musica de origen Mapuche (Track 3)
Label: Denosotros (Valdivia, Chile)
Length of excerpt: 0:25
Title: Stella by Starlight
Artist: Bill Evans
Album: Conversations With Myself (Track 5)
Label: Verve
Length of excerpt: 0:30
Traci Tong
Posted on July 18, 2006 at 06:20 PM | Permalink
Review of Valdivia: Stories of Survival
Applause for this impressive work by four college freshmen.
Elizabeth Finn, Siamrut Patanavanich, Allison St. Vincent and Rodrigo Zeledon traveled to Valdivia, Chile to report on stories of survival from the 1960 devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Finn and St. Vincent are first up to report on an endangered wetland. Their story is followed by Patanavanich who gives a heartfelt look at the lost culture of the Mapuche people. The third story by Zeledon introduces you to survivors of the disaster.
This is an ambitious documentary by students of an MIT programme. It is sound-rich and very engaging.
That said, I offer some constructive criticism if this report is to be taken on another level -- professionally.
The narration by the students were at times quick and difficult to understand. The ends of sentences were sometimes swallowed. An example is the handoff from the endangered wetland story to the Mapuche. It was a bit difficult to understand what was happening.
I would have preferred to have the students identify themselves at the beginning of their journeys. It would have flowed nicely. Zeledon was the only one to introduce himself and the story and that was more effective for a listener.
These are criticisms that can be worked on. Overall, highly impressive!