Pakistan workshop report

The digital camera training workshop brought together 160 girls and boys aged between 10 and 15 from the earthquake-affected areas of Mansehra and Muzaffarabad in Northern Pakistan. All the children were returning to their home villages after a year spent in camps.
During one month, workshops were held with four teams of trainers working with eight groups of 20 children, 10 boys and 10 girls each. The trainers provided a safe space for children to talk about how the earthquake had affected their lives, their families and their homes while alongside they taught them basic digital photography skills
The children used digital cameras and technology donated by Sony to document and communicate their experiences and needs. For many of them it was the first time they had ever held a camera or taken a photograph. By the end of the month they had taken more than 30,000 images which were uploaded to computers so that they could be shared among the groups,
Along with the photos the trainers worked with the children on exploring

why they had chosen particular subjects to photograph. The children were unused to being asked their opinions or to listening to those of their peers. Many of the images they went on to record were of family and friends but many were also of the still visible effects of the earthquake.
The workshop served as necessary and very enjoyable recreation for children still traumatized by their experiences and many formed strong bonds with their trainers.

The body of work was subsequently judged by a panel of world-class international photographers who were delighted by the imagination, skill and beauty of the entries. An exhibition of the project was then, used as a fundraising tool and elicited a commitment from the Government of Pakistan to incorporate the children's idea in rehabilitation plans.

(Implementation of the workshop : 2006)

All images ©UNICEF/G.Pirozzi

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