By nic pursey | project support
In May, experienced PhotoVoice facilitator Jenny Matthews delivered a course of photo-advocacy workshops in Kabul. Through photography she wanted to enable the children to have an input into the debate about what can be done to change their lives for the better.
Jenny trained 14 boys and girls, all aged 16 or under, to take photographs and write testimonies illustrating what life in Afghanistan is really like – from a child’s perspective.
The young participants were enthusiastic from the off and anxious to get their hands on the cameras and start taking pictures. Before they could be let loose with the cameras, they had to learn a few basics – for example, the rules of picture-taking, background, light and how to take pictures when moving. Breaking up these more formal ‘lessons’, was an outing to a local park. The girls were especially adventurous and asked a lot of people if they could take their photo. A local radio producer was on hand to help them.
"We learnt a lot about taking pictures", one participant said, "for example background, light, dark, shadows, which angles to use, we are very satisfied. We hope that the pictures (of poor children) will then go to school and their living conditions will improve." The participant is referring to the project’s proposed advocacy strand which will use photographs from the project to draw attention to how the rights of children might be improved - in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
After the workshops, all the participants reported increased levels of self confidence and communications skills. One said later: "This was a good project, we learnt a lot of things before we didn’t dare speak but this encouraged us. We learnt how to take a picture very well."
Exhibitions of the participants' photographs are planned to show at two schools in Kabul later this year. We will keep you updated!
PhotoVoice thanks you for your support - it has given an opportunity for some young Afghanis to have fun and learn something new in a country seemingly beset by troubles.
You can view a preliminary edit of the photographs on the PhotoVoice website at: http://www.photovoice.org/projects/international/visible-rights-afghanistan-2010/
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