Armed with the new brand, excellent new workbooks, 18 recycled cameras & t-shirts – it was off to Southwest Uganda, for the first time in three years – oh how I missed East Africa during the pandemic!
Working with a new project partner, I spent two weeks with a group of young street children, mainly running after school and weekend workshops at the Shepard Centre, which is run by an ex street boy Patrick. The youngsters I was working with were a fabulous bunch of characters. These were tough, vocal children, who had seen the best and worst of humans.
All of them, at some stage in their life had been on the streets and whilst they are now happy & healthy, I heard some pretty tough stories from both their upbringing but also their time on the streets. The horrors of sleeping rough in Uganda. One of the children I worked with had only been with the centre for two months, having literally just arrived from the street.
The boys all stay at the centre full time, where they have basic boarding, along with cooked meals and are sent to a local school. They have some basic projects that run during the holidays, but this is the first time a project of this nature & involvement has been implemented at the centre.
I also worked with some students at Eden School ( a previous project partner) while also paying a visit to previous students who were part of the project in 2016 to check their progress in a new school, but to also provide small funds from photo sales to help towards their school fees.
This was the first time I had created a specific workbook for each of the youngsters (previously relying on notes and small handouts) and with the group of ex street boys this was a perfect resource for their daily learning.
Throughout the two week workshop the youngsters came alive when using the photographic equipment… they grasped the basics of photography and became enthralled with the task objectives, which included portraiture, street and landscape photography.
Accompanying the group on afternoon ‘walkabouts’ around the dust lined streets of the villages, I watched first hand as the children became confident and assertive through the two weeks.
The project paid for all the workshop time, materials, lunches, snacks and transport for the students to fully immerse themselves in the sessions.
Also included were cooked lunches at a local restaurant during the weekends ( a first for virtually all the boys) and also a boat trip and end of project awards and experience afternoon, which was very well received.
