My World, My View
A photographic project with 50 disadvantaged children in Pokhara, Nepal
Children in Nepal have no voice. In a nation dogged by poverty, corruption, conflict and discrimination, children are at the bottom of the heap. Many live on the streets, others work from a young age, some are raped or forced into prostitution locally, others are trafficked into the Indian sex trade. More than half forego a basic education. With such fundemental rights disregarded, there is little oportunity for creativity, self expression or to develop to their full potential.
This ten-month project started in September 2006, and is helping 50 such children find their voice and communicate their viewpoint through photographs to their communities, their countrymen and the outside world. Participants include street children, sexually exploited girls, orphans and low-caste children from poor, remote villages.
Sue Carpenter
Project Coordinator and Trustee, Asha-Nepal
For full details and an image gallery click here
Planned Outcomes
Personal development: building children’s self-confidence and giving them a sense of their inherent worth in the world. Children will be encouraged to express themselves and present their world through their own eyes.- Empowerment: these children will be in control of communicating their vision to the outside world
- Revenue for the children through print sales, exhibition launch events, media coverage with appeals for funds. Proceeds will go direct to the children’s education, skills training and other needs, to be identified in consultation with them
- Project sustainability: we aim to train one or more of the older students to take ownership of the project and teach the same skills to subsequent groups of children
- Exhibitions of the children’s photographs in Pokhara, Kathmandu, Britain and other international venues – communication and awareness to the outside world
- Prints for sale at the exhibitions and via the websites of CWS and Asha-Nepal
- Book of the children’s photographs
- Fund-raising events/exhibition launches
- Press articles (two articles in YOU Magazine, UK, already commissioned)