They had never seen a real camera before, let alone hold one in their hands. “Is it the real thing and not a toy?'' the children wondered as Suchitra Vijayan distributed cameras among them.
One of the children, Abu, decided to check out the device he was holding, when the camera back opened and a roll of film fell out. “Now what?'' he said a trifle worried, and looked up at the young woman with a smiling face. “No problem,'' she said, and gave him another camera.
“Go take pictures,'' she said, but cautioned him against opening the camera back again.
Abu looked around. His friends were busy clicking pictures of each other. He joined them with his new toy.
For the 30 children at the Children for Children's Future, or CCF, centre in Arusha, Tanzania, this was an unusual experience.
But why give cameras to children?
That is a question Suchitra has often fielded. “The first thing I notice when I discuss this concept with people is their unbelieving smiles. Then they say: ‘Of what use is it? Why waste money on photographs? It's expensive, you know'.''
Suchitra begs to differ. “I believe creativity is key to success. Imparting mundane skills alone will not lead to the overall development of children. They should have food for thought and the soul. Our aim is to provide it through photography.''
In 2007, the 26-year-old, along with four others, founded Lines of Grey, or LOG, a non-governmental organisation with a mission to take photography to the doors of marginalised children around the world.
“Through photography we seek to open the doors to the imagination of children. Photographs reflect the photographer's mind. Photography is a form of personal expression,'' Suchitra told Weekend Review.
“The society cannot claim to have performed its duties towards marginalised children merely by providing food, clothing and shelter. It needs to go beyond just that,'' she added.
LOG attempts to fill this void by providing street children with an opportunity to kindle their creativity.
“It all began with a conversation with a friend, sometime in 2006. We talked about stories and the different perspectives they can be viewed from.
"The conversation veered to tsunami victims. We wondered what the children and people affected by the calamity would photograph. How would they choose to tell their stories? This thought was the beginning,'' Suchitra says, adding, “Children are motivated by play, humour and adventure. Although poverty moulds the scope of their imagination, it does not curtail it.''
So when she moved to Arusha to work at the UN War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda, Suchitra experimented with her idea. She introduced photography to the children of CCF.
“I started the first project of LOG in January 2007 with the help of my friend, Jade Pagkas-Bather, in Arusha. We distributed disposable cameras to 30 children.''
CCF is a registered organisation established in Tanzania to address the needs of the increasing number of children living on the streets.
“For these children, the street has become their home. It includes children who might not necessarily be homeless or without families but live in situations where there is no protection, supervision or direction from responsible adults,'' Suchitra says.
According to LOG's website, children under 15 constitute about 46 per cent of Tanzania's population. Since the early 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of street children as a result of poverty and the spreading of HIV/Aids.
According to a survey in 2000 by Mkombozi, a child-focused agency in northern Tanzania, 22 per cent of the children on the streets were there because they could not afford school fees.
Poverty rose due to the migration of people to urban areas while the closure of large farms on Mount Kilimanjaro resulted in widespread unemployment.
It led to the breaking down of families and the criminalisation and politicisation of street children.
Tanzania lacks facilities for informal education and does not provide street children with opportunities to support themselves through gainful employment.
The juvenile justice system is inadequate and the mechanisms to document and report police abuse have been found wanting.
“These children were separated from their parents. I never had any contact with their parents. Initially I was advised not to give them cameras.
"Many cautioned me saying they would run away with the cameras or would sell them. But this never happened. The children behaved responsibly and took good care of the cameras,'' Suchitra says.
“They reacted as children do when given a new toy. There was joy, curiosity and excitement as also the eagerness to learn and explore.''
It was a kind of liberating feeling as the children explored the world from behind the lens. The first thing most children did was to take pictures of themselves.
“Besides unleashing their creative instincts, this experiment became a private invitation to their life on the streets.''
That year, in July, LOG organised an exhibition of these photographs in Chennai, India, in association with the British Council Library. LOG was formally registered as an NGO in India in July 2007.
Suchitra's friends, Pagkas-Bather, Solomon Porres, Nachiappan Subramanian and her younger sister Sruthi Vijayan were part of the endeavour. Porres handles LOG's public relations, Subramanian is the treasurer and Sruthi heads the creative lines of the organisation.
Suchitra repeated her experiment at a juvenile home in Chennai where there were about 40 girls.
Subramanian says: “The initial hurdle was convincing the warden of the home to grant us permission to interact with the children and give them cameras. Although she granted us permission, she was not happy with our idea. She felt it would be of no use and that the children might misuse the cameras. She wanted us to take back the cameras after the workshop. Convincing her was the foremost hurdle.''
The team also organised an outing for the girls to Mahabalipuram near Chennai to give them an opportunity to take photographs outdoors.
“They were excited since they seldom went out. By then they had got accustomed to their cameras. What was interesting was that they rationed the number of photos they clicked. They did not want to waste film.
"Most of the girls were in their early teens. Like other teenagers they were interested in sneaking a peek at boys. The photographs they shot were usually group pictures of themselves, to be retained as memorabilia,'' Nachiappan says.
LOG held its third workshop in Cairo. Children from Sudan and Somalia and refugees from Eritrea at the St Andrew Refugee Ministry participated in the workshop.
It focused on teaching children the art of storytelling through photographs and on engaging them critically.
These children had come to Egypt either at a very young age or were born there.
They are, however, not entitled to complete citizenship in the country. They have limited or no access to education and few prospects of earning a livelihood. They grow up in a society to which they don't really belong.
They may be Sudanese or Somalis but growing up in Egypt they have adopted the African American hip hop and rap culture.
They idolise and try to emulate the American gang culture.
Although Egypt has opened its doors to refugees fleeing conflicts and persecution in Africa, there are no proper refugee camps in the country. Most of the refugees, whose numbers vary from 500,000 to 3 million, live in Cairo and Alexandria.
According to the 1989 United Nations Convention — of which Egypt is a signatory — the country must provide refugees with free education and psychological support.
But the fact is that most refugees are denied education in Egypt's public schools.
Those keen on pursuing higher education in the universities have to pay in foreign currency the fees charged to foreigners.
Denied the right to work, the refugees rely on the informal sector, where they are exploited.
Limited intervention
Porres says: “Suchitra conducts the workshops. Children are given activities where they discuss photographs. Field trips are also organised.''
According to him, the team doesn't interfere in the children's work except when they need help with technical aspects or have to overcome mental blocks. “The pictures are not edited without the consent of the children,'' he says.
The workshops have brought the children out of their shells and changed the way they think.
“We often have a problem in convincing people about the concept behind LOG,'' Suchitra says. We are constantly told that marginalised children require education, clothing, housing and means to earn a livelihood.
And we try telling them that children are motivated by play and adventure. No amount of money or education can help them as much as personal attention, whereby their angst and amazement are addressed.''
The second hurdle is mobilising a steady flow of funds. “So far we have dug into our pockets.
Friends and well-wishers have supported us. In October 2007, Kodak India donated 25 KB-10 cameras. I am back to writing to prospective sponsors for funding our future projects,'' Suchitra says.
Some of the children who were part of the first project in Arusha, Tanzania, have left the temporary shelter at the CCF for various reasons and are back on the streets.
Getting them off the street
LOG is working on a campaign to raise funds to get some of these children off the street and enrol them in boarding schools in and around Arusha.
“Though this is a departure from the LOG mandate, we feel it is our responsibility to find viable solutions to get as many of these children as possible into a safe and protected environment,'' Suchitra says.
Street children are subjected to physical abuse by the police. Governments treat them as a blight to be eradicated.
Being homeless, they are often detained by police or criminally charged with vague offences such as loitering or vagrancy. They are tortured and often held for long periods in poor conditions. They are sometimes sexually assaulted.
Street children make up the largest proportion of children who enter the criminal justice systems and are jailed, often without due process.
Few advocates speak up for these children and few have family members or other individuals willing to intervene on their behalf.
Suchitra and her team believe every child has the right to health, shelter, education, an adequate standard of living and freedom from violence and harassment.
History reveals that human tragedies have often been the result of inaction and indifference of those who could have acted.
Mythily Ramachandran is an independent writer based in Chennai, India.
For information and ways in which you can make a
difference to the lives of the less privileged children,
visit www.linesofgrey.org
The minds that hold the initiative together
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