Haiti Earthquake Anniversary
Posted on : 28-12-2010 | By : Paul Harrison | In : Outside of Work
Tags: Haiti, Plan International
It is coming up to the first anniversary of the Haiti earthquake and, outside of the current political upheaval, our thoughts are particularly attuned to the island for a couple of close-to-home reasons: my sister in law Mathilde is working there for Caritas (some of her articles here ), and we are helping charity Plan International tell the story of how they are helping to rebuild children’s lives.
The below film is a collection of stills from the Children of Haiti, with an introduction to the project below. If you’d like to support Plan in any way you can, you can begin here: Haiti Recovery Plan
Haitian teenagers document their nation though unique photographsAlmost half the population of Haiti is under 18 years of age. These children have been at the forefront of the disasters which have recently befallen their nation - yet their own story is largely untold. Global images of Haiti since the earthquake have been taken mostly by adult, international photographers and have focused on death, destruction, trauma and violence.In October 2010, 22 young people, aged 14 to 19, from Croix de Bouquets, a western district of Port au Prince and the southern coastal town of Jacmel, were given crash-courses in photo skills such as lighting, composition and framing. They were provided with digital cameras and then sent ‘on assignment’ in their communities. Their brief was to cover topics such as home life, education, leisure, friends, everyday Haiti and anything about which they were passionate.
Natasha Fillion, a freelance Canadian photojournalist currently based in Port au Prince who has covered assignments including Iraq, Sri Lanka and Central America said the results “blew me away.” “They took the project very seriously and exceeded my expectations. With only 2 days training, the photos they took were inspiring and beautiful. You get to see so many different sides of Haiti. Beautiful things, ugly things, family, people laughing, crying, it’s a really touching story.” “They were really excited that someone wanted to see their point of view of their own country. Not many people ask Haitians what they want or what they see.”
Luben, 14, said: “I really liked the project because at the beginning I didn’t know how to use a camera but after getting this training I feel I’m like a photographer. My favourite picture, which was selected, is of a group of birds. I took a first photo with the flash to scare them off, and it gave me what I wanted, they all flew off then I took a second one, and that made a beautiful picture.”
Natasha added: “I go out and I’m covering demonstrations, violence and destruction but there’s a whole side of Haiti that the media, the whole world doesn’t get to see, and I told the students - this is your opportunity to show people what Haiti is really like. These are photos that tell the story of Haiti as a whole, not just news.”
