Hand Washing Day

[nicola]

Sorry if this has already been posting (it was in October), but I found a video on YouTube that includes Hayley. i know there are threads of Hayley in Ghana, but I didn't know if this press package was brought to anybodies attention.

Interestingly, I found the video through an article that was primarily complaining about the lack of passion in the press package. It said that Hayley basically rescued the promotion as she seemed to be the only authentic person in it.

I have to say, I somewhat agree. The commentator sounds bored. :/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x0O8GInzTg

[stevemacdonald]

I'd like to wash my hands of the video's ill-informed narrator who called Hayley's last name "Westena".

Also, for hygienic purposes, it should be pointed out that the young lad who washed his hands at :24 should not have turned off the faucet with his newly cleaned hands because he just re-contaminated them by touching the dirty faucet handle!

[nicola]

I thought she pronounced it funny. I thought that it might have just been her accent. Or worse still, I have been pronouncing her name wrong all of these years.

Yes, it's not a very good press package. :/

[grant]

Hi Nicola and everyone

We've actually seen several videos with this narrator who consistently refers to Hayley 'Westerna'! It is an unusual name and that pronunciation was fairly common in the early days, but there's no excuse for someone still to be using it.

It's disgraceful and totally unacceptable for someone such as the narrator here, who would appear to be of fair importance within the UNICEF empire, to have not been told the correct pronunciation.

I'll get off my soapbox now!

Best wishes
Grant

[nicola]

Surely they must have a more lively narrator among their ranks? I personally wouldn't hire her.

It is a bit odd that the narrator's only job is to talk, you therefore have to talk clearly and properly. You'd think pronounciation would be high up on their agenda.

On a side note, I loved Hayley's accent in that video - I have not heard her speak in the longest time. I had I quite forgotten what she sounded like. <3

[graemek]

Hi All & Thanks Nicola,
I just went to the UNICEF site & was greeted by this epitome of Good Will. (trimmed to fit) (not the Good Will.....the pic)


....Graeme

[martindn]

Hi Graeme,

At first sight they make it look as if Hayley is one of the children they have "saved". Of course the precise meaning of the word "saved" in this context is open to debate! But I'm sure whatever they did was beneficial.

Martin

[nicola]

:2fun: I think you're right there, Martin!

[Andrew]

Hi Graeme,

Well done for spotting this article featuring Hayley on the 'UNICEF NZ' Website...

Fantastic!!!

Andrew

[Richard]

Thanks for posting, Nicola!

The brief clip of Hayley appears in another video HERE, but I haven't seen the full report before. It certainly deserves its own thread.

Best Wishes,

Richard

[Richard]

Hello again Nicola!

I've found the article you mentioned at movingimages.wordpress.com, so I'll quote a couple of paragraphs. Click on the link to see the complete article.

Wash Your Hands - yes, UNICEF, but only if you ask us nicely!
18 October 2008 — Nalaka Gunawardene

And finally, here’s Unicef’s own news story posted this week on its YouTube channel telling us more on GHD. It’s technically well made, but absolutely lacks passion. The narrator delivers her script in such an indifferent, detached tone, and UNICEF Senior Adviser for Sanitation and Hygiene pontificates also in a tone that will not win her many followers. Scenes of senior UN officials washing their hands in a demonstration are laughable. The only saving grace in this story is when we see Hayley Westenra, the well known singer from New Zealand and youngest UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, visiting water and sanitation projects in Ghana.

If only the rest of GHD promoters had the enthusiasm and passion that Hayley Westenra exudes! Passion used to be the hallmark of UNICEF during the time of its legendary executive director James Grant, who strongly believed in communicating messages of child survival and well-being. He gave UNICEF a head start in working with the media, especially television.

Richard

[stevemacdonald]

By the way, on UNICEF's own site it's called "handwashing" (one word). It also appears hyphenated as "hand-washing". If guess if you make it two separate words -- "hand washing" -- it could just as easily refer to cleansing a few items of clothing in the sink, not that there shouldn't be a special day set aside to honor the importance of that, too.