This post contains student writing.

Watching smiles appear of children’s faces as they stared at photos of themselves became the inspiration for my independent project. While we were at our welcome party for the Ceche foundation Zach asked me to take photos of the children while they enjoyed their cake. During this photo shoot so many of the children wanted to view the pictures I had taken of them and were astonished by their own reflections. I realized that these children don’t have the opportunity to look at themselves often since mirrors are a privilege rather then a necessity. Addressing this minor issue I focused my project on supplying people with pictures that they will be able to savor for the rest of their lives. I began to take Polaroids of the local people and then gave them the picture as a keepsake.

I first started my project at the local market in Nyamata, where the language barrier was a huge problem. As expected, many of the locals were uncomfortable with me flashing my camera in their faces since they did not understand my questions. So, I found a woman, Rachel, who sold t-shirts for a living and was kind enough to help me since she spoke English. She called over a few of her friends who I was able to photograph. This trip to the market only contributed to three of my pictures since she was the only English speaker I met. After this, I took a trip to the local high school (Nyamata Boarding School). This was a much more successful journey. Because all the children there spoke English I was able to obtain 7 pictures and meet amazing children who were more then happy to help me finish the project. I was able to learn their life stories as well as give them the picture in return. For example I had a wonderful conversation with Diana, a senior, who explained to me that she wished to go to Harvard on a scholarship and major in business. Then she hoped to return to Nyamata in order to get a job to stay close to her family and home country. I also talked to Vanessa who wanted to become a flight attendant when she graduated from high school. Although I faced many challenges in the beginning of my project due to the fact that I could not communicate with the people I wished to photograph, I overcame this obstacle by focusing my project on the children of the high school rather than all of Nyamata.

Throughout my project I learned many lessons such as handling a conversation when the other person doesn’t understand your language. I also learned how one small act of kindness actually makes a difference in some one else’s life. For instance the first woman I took a picture of, Rachel, was so amazed at the process of how the picture showed up and was so grateful to me that I was willing to give her the picture. I believe these skills will help me later in life as I continue to develop them.

Molly