Yet We Live, Strive and Succeed

Presented by the World Summit of Educators in partnership and the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Human Rights at Soka University of America

How do marginalized or disenfranchised communities identify, represent, and enhance their community through Freirean philosophy of reflection, critical dialogue, co-teaching, and direct action to influence policymakers to facilitate changes necessary for justice and equality?

YET WE LIVE, STRIVE AND SUCCEED draws on international educators, scholars, and community participants using Photovoice. This participatory, arts-based action research and education method gives voice to participants’ experiences and perspectives. Photovoice can simultaneously facilitate critical consciousness-raising for social action, social change, and racial justice.

Chair: Ian Olivo Read, PhD — Soka University, USA

Daniel Meirinho, PhD — Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Trinidad Jackson, MS, MPH — University of Louisville, USA

Joana Roque de Pinho, PhD — Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Portugal

Olhares do Gramacho, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

 


Jardim Gramacho, Rio de Janeiro

Playful dynamics performed in the Workshops of Olhares do Gramacho Project

Playful dynamics performed in the Workshops of Olhares do Gramacho Project

Children and young people in their first contact with the photography equipment used 

Children and young people in their first contact with the photography equipment used 

First photos of friends inside of the organization 

Taking pictures in the streets of the community

Exercise of photograph something beautiful in the landfill Jardim Gramacho

Exercise of photograph something beautiful in the landfill Jardim Gramacho

Street pets 

Photograph of Cassio (12 years old)

Photograph of Iris (13 years old)

Photograph of Anderson (14 years old)

Photograph of Cassiane (12 years old)

Photograph of Ruan (11 years old)

Choice of the photos for exhibition 

Choice of the photos for exhibition 

Final exhibition performed at the wall of Casa Amarela 

Participants' certificates 

Final exhibition performed at the wall of Casa Amarela 



West Louisville Photovoice, Kentucky - USA

Trinidad Jackson, MS, MPH — University of Louisville


Anne S. - LEADERSHIP Theme: Racism

Abdul S. - BOARDS Theme: Hopelessness

Stephanie J. - A STOP ON FACTORY ROW DIMINISHES LIFESPAN OF RESIDENTS Theme: Unsafety

A.Bailey - A PHOENIX RISES

Pam N. - HOW DARE YOU

Brina J. - FOR THE LOVE OF THE MOVEMENT

A. Williams - READY TO DIE Theme: Hopelessness

E. Clemons - YOUNG SOLDIER Theme: Safety

E. Clemons Theme: Hope

Monique W. - MY FAITH GIVES ME HOPE

A.Bailey - THE DROPPED BALL

Kris - DIRT BOWL RESURRECTION Theme: Hope

A.Bailey - A CITY FULL OF GAME CHANGERS

Kris - WASTED RESOURCES Theme: Racism

Ralph - Theme: Hope

D. Dawson BENDING BACKWARDS… Theme: Safety and Hope



Exposing Stereotypes with Participatory Photography: Lessons from Kenya, Guinea-Bissau and Japan.

Joana Roque de Pinho, PhD - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Centro de Estudos Internacionais, Lisboa, Portugal

Photo by Papis Camará. Cashew. 

Photo by Mariama Cassamá.

Photo by Papis Camará. In the mangrove rice fields. 

Photo by Manuel Camará. Collecting thatching grass.

Photo by Sene Bangurá.

Photo by Manuel Camará. Threshing rice.

Photo by Mussa Conté.

Photo by Lissa Turé. 

Photo by Banna Seidi.

In the past, there were no proper schools, just huts. Now, we have good schools. Our elders did not have any schools, only work. This is a positive change because now, when you look for work, the first question people ask you is “Did you study?”

Photo by Mariama Cassamá

This is a school that did not exist in the past. In Cafal, there was only a small school built by the Portuguese. We would go there with our bare feet. We made our own wood desks with our own hands, and they were not good. […] In 1997, our elders decided that their children should no longer cross the river to go to school. In third grade, we had to cross the river to go to [a distant village]. The elders said: “Seven-year-old children cross this river. What if they drown? How will we feel? Seven-year-old children cannot swim in a river like this”. They called the brankus [white people; Portuguese], some volunteers who were here, and told them: “Our children do not have a school. […] Help us with a school so that our children do not have to cross these waters every day. […] So, in 1997, children started to study [here] […]. Then, when they were stronger and older, they would cross the river. […]. Today, when I see this school, I’m reminded of our elders who had good ideas for their children – us. Today, if children refuse to go to school, they cannot invoke a lack of schools. Now, there are schools nearby, where they can study and still be around their parents. A child raised by her parents will not become a bandit. […] This is why I praised this change, in homage to our elders. Thank you, elders of Cafal!

Photo by Umaro Finhane Nanao

These boys are cattle herders. When they are six- to ten-years-old, they herd. These boys have come back from herding cows; they have brought them home. In the past, boys would not dare to play like this. Today, they do it because of the experience they have gotten through school. Today, they go out with the cows until noon and then they go to school. They have combined these two experiences, herding and going to school. In the past, boys would leave their homes at 7 am and would not eat until 5 pm. In the past, [...] boys would look for flowers and fruits, like fole and farroba, and would give them to the elders. [...] These boys are playing a game that did not exist before. [...] This boy is surprised by my camera, when I took position [to shoot the picture].

Photo by Manuel Tchudá

This is an ancient water spring. Do you see this boy with the calabash, and his bare feet on the ground? The way he is standing there, inside the spring, with his bare feet, he is fetching water to put in that bucket. In the old springs, like this one, people would get in the water, fetch water, and pass the bucket to a companion who would lift the water up. What made me take this picture is that nowadays we have new sources of water. What we have now are covered wells.

Photo by Bulutna Nancussa

I call this picture “Cafal of yesterday”. The second image is called “Cafal of today”. I took these pictures to document a change. This is the trunk of an old mango tree. In the past, our school was under the mango tree. This is the school that took our elders to Terra Branku [Europe]. This is the school that helped our elders free this land [Guinea-Bissau; he is referring to the 1963-74 Independence War]. If today we see the greatness of this village, it is thanks to this tree and the advice that people received underneath it. […] This is how our elders’ school used to be. This is how people were taught from Class One all the way to Class Seven, here underneath this tree around which people are seated. Many [youth] do not know this school. Under this tree all the population of Cafal used to sit. Many elders sat here […]. All received teachings underneath it. People also received advice before a journey. When drums were here, everyone from [nearby villages] would meet here. The Portuguese head of the colonial administrative outpost (Chefe de Posto) would collect taxes here. Before, Cafal used to be darker, as this tree was in its center. But we felled it because we wanted light. Because of the wind and to avoid darkness, people decided to cut this tree down, and the village got light. This also happened because of another change: cars and motorbikes – to avoid accidents. This changed Cafal’s character. When the mango tree was felled, lots of people cried.

Photo by Papis Demba Camará

Today, we have a new method to teach children. The man with the black pants is the teacher walking his students to school and is looking at a student playing [on all fours]. The man with the white shirt is advising his colleagues to go to school. Because if they don’t, nothing good will come of it. Thanks to such advice, we now have students graduating in our villages. Thanks to this change, things are better. […] The school from the past and today’s school have their differences, but we need to follow both, a little of each. Children’s education starts at home, and then teachers do the rest. This is why I took these pictures, to remind people that there used to be a certain type of school [under the mango tree] and today we have the schools where pupils sit at desks.

Photo by Papis Demba Camará

This is an ancient thing, called ngae. [...] Today it’s difficult to find people that still put these lianas on. People have changed. They wear good clothes and stroll around. In the past, youth would wear these lianas and would walk shirtless all the way to Bissau. I found this boy on that day, on the eve of his ninth birthday party, and I saw how he was dressed. I was very happy. Today, it is very difficult to find someone going shirtless. I took this picture to show the youth of today this custom that boys no longer do. In the past, this is how our elders would do. Why did this practice diminish? People have become careless. In the past, the majority did not go to school. That’s why today, people want to kill this tradition so that the youth stay in school.

Photo by Bebe Naman

My comrades, my brothers, my uncles, and my children, I will tell you the story of this motorboat, our village’s first. In the past, we didn’t have such motorboats. We would row all the way to [the neighboring peninsula] to take a sick person for treatment. It was very difficult. When there was wind, we would sail. But when the wind stopped, no one could go anywhere. But today we have development. Motorboats are development. With a motorboat, no one gets tired. Not unless the engine breaks down. I took this picture to show development, which feeds and helps us.

Photo by Manuel Camará

In the past, this pond was in a good condition. Our cows used to drink there. I took this picture to show that cows cannot drink there now because sea water invaded the pond, and the cows get sick. Before, we didn’t worry about water for cattle. But in the past four years, it has been a source of concern because of the salty water. It is a negative change. That is what motivated me to take this picture. An unusually high tide damaged it. Underneath those rocks are freshwater springs and crocodile holes. One day, an elder found a baby crocodile and placed it in this pond. The crocodile grew up, then went to the river to get married and had many children here. People wanted to kill these crocodiles, but the elders did not allow it. These elders had adopted these crocodiles like people in India have adopted the cow. One day, when the water was dirty, we were cleaning the water springs and found a crocodile in its hole. We wanted to kill it, but the elders stopped us: “You grew up and found this crocodile. It is not for you to kill it.” […] When I saw this picture on my camera’s screen, it was a surprise to see the trees reflected in the water! The sun was going down. I did not know that the trees would come out like this, in the water…

Photo by Albat Ialá

This trunk belongs to a polon (Ceiba pentandra; a forest tree) that was cut down more than two years ago. Another polon, a little polon, was born inside the trunk of the dead polon. The owner of the big polon, who had cut it down, sowed the little polon inside the trunk of the old polon. The dead polon’s trunk allowed this change to happen. It had rotten and the little polon was sown inside of it and then it grew. […].

Photo by Paulo Nanfuta


Playful dynamics performed in the Workshops of Olhares do Gramacho Project

Playful dynamics performed in the Workshops of Olhares do Gramacho Project

Children and young people in their first contact with the photography equipment used 

Children and young people in their first contact with the photography equipment used 

First photos of friends inside of the organization 

Taking pictures in the streets of the community

Exercise of photograph something beautiful in the landfill Jardim Gramacho

Exercise of photograph something beautiful in the landfill Jardim Gramacho

Street pets 

Photograph of Cassio (12 years old)

Photograph of Iris (13 years old)

Photograph of Anderson (14 years old)

Photograph of Cassiane (12 years old)

Photograph of Ruan (11 years old)

Choice of the photos for exhibition 

Choice of the photos for exhibition 

Final exhibition performed at the wall of Casa Amarela 

Participants' certificates 

Final exhibition performed at the wall of Casa Amarela 

Anne S. - LEADERSHIP Theme: Racism

Abdul S. - BOARDS Theme: Hopelessness

Stephanie J. - A STOP ON FACTORY ROW DIMINISHES LIFESPAN OF RESIDENTS Theme: Unsafety

A.Bailey - A PHOENIX RISES

Pam N. - HOW DARE YOU

Brina J. - FOR THE LOVE OF THE MOVEMENT

A. Williams - READY TO DIE Theme: Hopelessness

E. Clemons - YOUNG SOLDIER Theme: Safety

E. Clemons Theme: Hope

Monique W. - MY FAITH GIVES ME HOPE

A.Bailey - THE DROPPED BALL

Kris - DIRT BOWL RESURRECTION Theme: Hope

A.Bailey - A CITY FULL OF GAME CHANGERS

Kris - WASTED RESOURCES Theme: Racism

Ralph - Theme: Hope

D. Dawson BENDING BACKWARDS… Theme: Safety and Hope

Photo by Papis Camará. Cashew. 

Photo by Mariama Cassamá.

Photo by Papis Camará. In the mangrove rice fields. 

Photo by Manuel Camará. Collecting thatching grass.

Photo by Sene Bangurá.

Photo by Manuel Camará. Threshing rice.

Photo by Mussa Conté.

Photo by Lissa Turé. 

Photo by Banna Seidi.

Photo by Mariama Cassamá

Photo by Umaro Finhane Nanao

Photo by Manuel Tchudá

Photo by Bulutna Nancussa

Photo by Papis Demba Camará

Photo by Papis Demba Camará

Photo by Bebe Naman

Photo by Manuel Camará

Photo by Albat Ialá

Photo by Paulo Nanfuta