A local high school program is helping a group of women who survived domestic and sexual abuse tell their stories. The survivors, some who have kept their abuse a secret, are sharing their stories in a big way with a docuseries called Our Journey Alive.
What used to be Sophia Strother's darkest secret is now her platform to shine a light on abuse.
"It took me until 30 to say I haven't went through all of this hell just for me.There had to be some underlying purpose or reason," Strother said.
Our Journey Alive stars men and women who have survived Domestic and Sexual Abuse. One of the women featured is Carolyn Thomas of Waco who's story made national headlines after she was shot and left for dead but Strothers wants to go deeper than that day. Strother said that survivors have a life after abuse.
Strothers said the show is meant to highlight healing process, it's raw, real and a work in progress.
"I think for so long i had to have the face of being okay," Strothers said.
To put their stories on the small screen, Strother contacted Midway High School A/V teacher Tanya Lacey. Strother was familiar with the award-winning department's work in video and production. Lacey enthusiastically offered some of her students to help with the project.
"I agreed to do journey alive because I thought my students needed that real world experience and I knew it look good on their resume," Lacey said.
Five students spent a weekend filming and subsequent weeks editing the project's pilot episode. Senior Hannah Wang said the project was an adjustment,
"It was definitely a new experience for me I had only done small videos," Wang said.
Wang said the time and the effort on the project was exhaustive, but well worth the end product.
Senior Keaton Loudamy worked as the principal cinematographer. Loudamy said he appreciated not only the exposure to the different film opportunities but the chance to hear the experiences,
"Just hearing their stories was mind-blowing really," Loudamy said.
Our Journey Alive will be screened in Austin, Dallas and Houston. Then Strother plans to shop the series around to TV networks. When purchased, Strother intends to donate 20 percent of the proceeds to Midway A/V department.
Copyright 2016 KXXV. All rights reserved.
