SOIL - Looking Through Their Eyes: A Photo Empowerment Project

Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting soil resources, empowering communities and transforming wastes into resources in Haiti. We believe that the path to sustainability is through transformation, of both disempowered people and discarded materials, turning apathy and pollution into valuable resources. SOIL promotes integrated approaches to the problems of poverty, poor public health, agricultural productivity, and environmental destruction. We attempt to nurture collective creativity through developing collaborative relationships between community organizations in Haiti and academics and activists internationally Empowering communities, building the soil, nourishing the grassroots.

Looking through their eyes is a photo empowerment project for youth, which is designed to encourage them to discuss and engage in local issues that effect their communities. It facilitates the opportunity for young people to look critically at their environment, share emotions, build unity, and brainstorm together. Most importantly, the photo empowerment project builds confidence and challenges kids to effect change in their lives.

Photography:
The first step is making a connection with a local youth group or organization. We begin by sitting together in small groups of varied age and gender and teaching them how to use the digital cameras. With a laptop we are able to review the photos with almost instant feedback. The participants are always very enthusiastic - for many of them it is the first time they have ever seen or had the opportunity to use such technologies.
After the training, each person is given a camera for a couple of days and asked to answer the following questions in the form of pictures:
What do you like about living in your community?
What you don’t like about living in your community?
What makes you happy?
What makes you sad?
What makes you angry?

The photos are both provocative and artistic and give us the rare opportunity of “looking through their eyes” and beginning to understand and talk about some of the realities of living in poverty.

For more info CLICK HERE