Give a Voice to 60 Orphaned Girls in Morelia

Greetings from Morelia,

The girls have been exploring the alphabet through photography, looking for letters in the world around them. A branch, a leaf, a window, or a shadow can become a letter when seen from a different angle.

They search for shapes, take photographs, try again, and sometimes change their minds. Not every attempt works, and that is part of the process. They find their own ways to create letters from what surrounds them, discovering how a change in position or framing can reveal something they had not noticed before.

Looking at the images together brings new discoveries. Each girl notices different things, and the same object can lead to very different photographs. Some images suggest unexpected combinations; others give rise to new ideas. As the girls compare their photographs and explore how to bring them together, they begin to shape their own visual language and learn from one another.

Learning to use a camera is only one part of the activity. The girls also learn to approach a subject, wait, notice details, and decide how they want to represent what they see. Even at a young age, they can develop their own ways of looking at the world. The process takes time, and each girl needs room to experiment, change direction, and find her own approach.

The photographic alphabet is part of a longer process. In their notebooks, the girls collect photographs they have chosen to print and keep. Page by page, they record the people, animals, encounters, and everyday moments that catch their attention. These notebooks remain open, ready to welcome whatever enters their lives next.

Girls are often spoken about in terms of what they need protection from or what they will have to overcome. These realities matter and should never be minimized. But it is just as important to recognize what girls are already imagining, creating, and making possible as they grow.

The current group will continue its photography workshops, giving the girls time to carry on with the process they have begun, develop their ideas, and build on the work already in progress. The project will also reach girls at another center, who will have the opportunity to begin their own photographic journey.

Each group will follow its own path, at its own pace. What matters is that the girls have the time, tools, and guidance to keep exploring and developing their own ways of seeing the world.

Thank you for continuing to support this work and for helping more girls create images, tell their stories, and preserve memories they can return to as they grow.