The start of great new project with Los Centro Colombo Americanos in 4 Cities! Part 1 is Cali!

Today is my 1st post on this blog in 5 years as I have been working during this time to create the non-profit Photography Without Borders and have been chronicling the adventures of my students on our Facebook page. I am resurrecting this blog to document a personal project this summer where I am returning to Colombia to work with youth in 4 Colombian cities on an initiative called Desearte Paz (Wishing You Peace), a project of los Centro Colombo Americanos of Medellín, Cali, Bucaramanga, and Manizalez. The Colombos are located in many major Colombian cities and promote the exchange of culture between the US and Colombia. Last year I had an amazing experience bringing down 4 of my Philadelphia students to Medellin to work with El Colombo in Medellín and that amazing experience (again, check out our Facebook Page!) led to this year's larger project.

The first stop in this amazing tour is my mother's hometown of Cali where i am working with a group of youth in El Tecnocentro Cultural Somos Pacifico, located in the district of Aguablanca. Today was our first class and after meeting my students I put them to work painting the insides of their pinhole cameras that they will be using tomorrow. They also got to see an introductory video where my Shutterbugs Yaitza Figueroa and Jahaira Romero helped me get them started with some basic photographic concepts and whet their appetite for what we will be doing the next 2 weeks. We got off to a wonderful start today and the rest of our blog posts this week will be by the students themselves so stay tuned!

Grupo Aguacero, planting a Seed and watching it grow

If you look at my earliest entries in this blog you will see that I have been working with Grupo Aguacero for about 6 years now. Most of them started out as 15 or 16 year olds in high school and now most are graduating college already. It was always my intention to keep working with them until they reached the point where they were self sufficient and could go on their own. Well, it looks like that time has come, my kids are all grown up. The entire project in Cartagena, Soñando ser Fotógrafo, was planned and carried out by the members of the group. I hardly had to do anything. The students have now become the teachers. It gives me such a sense of pride to see the seeds I helped plant 6 years ago now blossoming.

Student Photographs in La Boquilla

Here is a slideshow showing photos taken by students in Soñando ser Fotógrafo (Dreaming of Being a Photographer) in La Boquilla, Cartagena in Colombia.

Click on YouTube logo to see video larger directly on YouTube.

Process in La Boquilla

Here is a slideshow showing the process of the 4 workshops in Soñando ser Fotógrafo (Dreaming of Being a Photographer) in La Boquilla, Cartagena in Colombia.

Click on YouTube logo to see video larger directly on YouTube.

Arriving at La Boquilla, Cartagena

After getting into Cartagena late last night (after a 26 hour bus ride) today is our first workshop with Los Reporteritos de La Boquilla and Organicación Fundación Proboquilla. I am here as a member of Grupo Aguacero, comprised of my students from Cali's Aguablanca District that I have been working with for the past 6 years.

La Boquilla is located right on the water about 20 minutes walk from where we are staying in my Aunt Jenny's Apt. These 18 students, aged 10 - 16, have received workshops in the past on topics ranging from web design to journalism. We spent our first day getting to know each other and outlining the rest of the workshops. The people in this community make their living from the sea and the tourists who make Cartagena Colombia's #1 tourist attraction. The overwhelming majority (like 90%) of the residents are Afro-Colombian.

Devoción a La Vírgen del Carmen (Devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel)

This video was created by Grupo Flormorado and explains the significance of their very important celebration of La Virgen del Carmen (our Lady of Mt. Carmel). I was really intrigued by how little I knew about it and what a big deal it is for the residents of La Florida as well as the rest of Colombia. I have been teaching the students digital video this summer along with traditional and digital photography, and this is just the first in a series that the students will be making about their traditions.

Adios a La Florida

 Tonight we had a small exhibition of the students work at the town hall where many in the community got to see how much Grupo Flormorado has accomplished this past month. I am sad to be going but know that I am leaving the group in good hands with Padre Angel, professor Camilo Arango, and the parents of the students. They now have in addition to a darkroom a computer lab with 3 Macintosh computers, a scanner/laser printer, and Internet access. I can't wait to get back to Philly so that we can start our cultural exchange with my Stetson Shutterbugs!