RECORD OF TRUTH
Thailand / Burma
The Karen are the most populous ethnic minority in Burma, inhabiting the eastern mountainous region of the country. Five decades of war and oppression have resulted in the flight of 100,000 Karen refugees, most of whom are now living in refugee camps in Thailand.
Record of Truth (RoT), a photography program, based on one of several Karen refugee camps along the border of Thailand, features a unique curriculum that utilizes photographic expression to encourage students to analyze their environment, document their lives and begin to preserve their oral and cultural traditions through visual documentation. These intimate testimonials reveal the daily realities of the Karen refugees and create an important archive during a time of instability and danger of losing their culture due to the high volume of resettlement.
In 2009, San Diego became home to many resettled Karen refugees. The AjA Project now works to connect Karen youth in San Diego with those living on the camps in order to provide a sense of connection and cultural continuity. In addition, Karen students in San Diego create photo documentaries that help youth in the camps learn what life in America might be like upon resettlement.
DISPARANDO CÀMARAS PARA LA PAZ
(Shooting Cameras for Peace)
Colombia
Colombia’s expanding civil war and deepening economic crisis has forced over 2 million Colombians to flee their homes, only to find more poverty and violence in the communities where they settle.
Disparando Cámaras para la Paz (DCP) – Shooting Cameras for Peace – is a participatory photography program for internally displaced youth at the communally-administered elementary school, Corporación Fe y Esperanza in El Progreso, Colombia. DCP instructors provide young people the opportunity to build self-confidence and self-awareness by looking critically at the social issues affecting their lives and their communities. The young documentarians are guided by a staff of Colombian photographers and educators through a series of intensive seminars incorporating photography, spoken narratives, and writing. The resulting collection of photographs and stories form a compelling testimonial of Colombia’s ongoing civil war and its effect on the country’s young people. At the same time it encourages the young participants to be protagonists rather than victims in their own lives.
DCP is now an independent Colombian nonprofit, and provides educational programs in partnership with The AjA Project’s international network. It is part of AjA’s philosophy that our international programs be locally staffed and operated.
THE ZNYMKA PROJECT
Ukraine
The Znymka Project is an international initiative of The AjA Project. Similar in scope to The AjA Project’s programming, The Znymka Project utilizes participatory photography methods to develop leadership skills in youth and encourages them to lead change within their communities.
Based in L’viv, Ukraine, The Znymka Project will provide marginalized and orphaned youth with a safe environment to build English language acquisition skills, develop career and educational opportunities, create original artwork and improve behavioral and physical health.
In addition to educating and empowering participants, The Znymka Project will partner with Ukrainian-based organizations to organize public exhibits of student work to validate participants’ experiences and to educate the broader community about the social climate affecting orphaned youth in Ukraine.
“Znymka” is the translation of “photograph” in Ukrainian.
