Zanmi Lakay’s Premier Jouk Li Jou Kan Foto – our first annual Photo Camp for Children in Haiti
The group photo from our first Photography Workshop with Kolézépol in Cité Soleil. These kids are all now shooting with digital cameras.
The kids at ACFFC learn about using digital cameras during our 2009 Photography Workshop.
For the first time, student photographers from Cité Soleil will meet up with students in Jacmel to spend 10 days shooting photo stories, editing, and processing their digital images with the help of volunteer professional photojournalists. The students will then print and hang their photos for an exhibition at the Fosaj Gallery, 5-7 Rue St. Ann, Jacmel. The month long show opens with a reception on Friday July 29, 2011.
This unprecedented teaching and exhibit event, called Jouk Li Jou Kan Foto will take place July 22-29, 2011, at the ACFFC building and around town in Jacmel, Haiti. Jouk Li Jou is a Haitian saying that means: we’ll never stop until the day is over, working hard to see a better life, and we’ll keep fighting to the end. Our students, their families and communities are all about Jouk Li Jou no matter what happens in Haiti, and our exhibition will reflect their resilience, dignity, and enduring spirit.
The Jouk Li Jou Kan Foto will foster the children’s photographic talents not only boosting self-esteem and teaching practical technical skills for the future, but will also inspire self-reflection and life changes empowering the young students to improve their lives. Many of these kids have never travelled out of their neighborhoods. The meeting up of students from different communities will foster both their art and socialization skills.
Zanmi Lakay’s Photography Workshop students are the best ambassadors to share and inform people about what we do. Our students are from Cité Soleil, Haiti’s largest and worst slum, and Jacmel, a poor yet beautiful historical seaside town known for its local artisans. Zanmi Lakay partners with Kolézépol in Cité Soleil, and Art Creation Foundation for Children (ACFFC) in Jacmel who will be hosting the Jouk Li Jou Kan Foto at their headquarters. These organizations provide the children school, daily meals, art classes, and community projects, as well as much needed social interaction.
Zanmi Lakay held photo workshops in both Cité Soleil and Jacmel in January and February last year for students ages 10-18. In spite of their dire living conditions right after the earthquake, the students were eager to participate in the workshops. The ability to express themselves through photography helped them cope with their trauma and process what was happening around them, but that’s not all. In February 2010, the New York Times Lens Blog published our students’ post-earthquake photographs, and Canada’s Globe and Mail hired eight students to provide photographs documenting the rebuilding of Jacmel. In addition, the students’ work was exhibited at the Palm Beach Photographic Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery in Washington D.C., the Venice Arts Gallery in Los Angeles, and the Exposure Gallery in San Francisco.
Jennifer and Guy Pantaléon, co-founders of Zanmi Lakay, will lead Jouk Li Jou Kan Foto. Joel Pétion, Zanmi Lakay’s Director in Haiti, will assist along with the directors and staff of ACFFC and Kolézépol. A team of volunteer professional journalists will also participate to mentor and teach, edit photographs and captions, process and make prints for the gallery, organize and hang the exhibit, and enjoy and learn about our community in Jacmel.
WISH LIST:
– TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS to pay for transportation, shipping, lodging and food, equipment, the gallery, and the exhibition reception.
– Sponsor a child to attend the Jacmel Photo Camp! 6 photo students from Cité Soleil will be traveling for the first time!
$75-$200 each for food, lodging, and transpo. -as of 7.13.11, four children sponsored
– 50 Working Digital Point and Shoot Cameras -as of 7.14.11, we’ve received 32 fully functional donated cameras! (and we’re working on getting 4 more up to speed)
– At least 4-6 good working Laptops –we have 4 donated laptops!
– 3 External Hard Drives at $69.99 (Costco) each
– Printer, Ink, and Photographic paper for an Epson Workforce 1100 -we have 2 new printers!
–Ink for donated Epson Picture Mate 260 -we have a donated Epson PM 260 AND a donated Epson PM 650 with ink!
– Batteries for cameras
– Museum putty to hang prints and caption cards
– 50 Compact Reporting Notebooks and Pens for Students