After an awesome week filming and photographing for iCare, one of Stairway's Youth for Change camps, the Look Out Loud photovoice project has officially commenced here at the Stairway Foundation! (Blog post and other cool footage from iCare are on the way!)
After some schedule rearranging, we made the decision to start working with the boys who live at Stairway in the residential program first, and begin photovoice sessions with Stairway's community scholars with the new year in January :)
After some schedule rearranging, we made the decision to start working with the boys who live at Stairway in the residential program first, and begin photovoice sessions with Stairway's community scholars with the new year in January :)
The first session for the Stairway boys was this morning, and WOW, were these kids enthusiastic about... everything! Some of the peer mentors (boys who have been at Stairway for a year or more) have seen me do photovoice sessions with the community scholars in the past, so they were especially psyched to have the chance to participate this time around. We did an exercise where I showed the boys a series of photographs and they had to tell me what stories could go along with each photograph. All of the boys, even the quieter ones, were eager to shout out the stories they saw. And not only did these boys give me concrete story details that were more obvious from looking at the photographs, but they also were shouting out the emotions that they felt from the pictures. These kids are ahead of the curve, because sometimes it is hard to understand how a photograph can convey an emotion!
For the first session, it is important that the participants understand that everyone has a unique and important story to tell, and we can use photographs as a way to communicate these stories, especially when words might not be enough. For these kids, this is particularly resonant because 1) these are no ordinary kids: having lived on the streets of Manila, been abused, or been abandoned by their parents (or all of the above), the Stairway boys have endured some of the most intense stories I have ever heard in my life And 2) due to their unstable pasts they are quite behind in school. Many are still learning to read and write and often are unable to express themselves with words, so using photographs and other forms of art is extremely helpful.
The 13 Stairway boys are very excited about their photo voice projects and so are we! Can't wait to see what they come up with!
Meagan
The 13 Stairway boys are very excited about their photo voice projects and so are we! Can't wait to see what they come up with!
Meagan