Stars are my Roof :: Street Children of Uganda

While living in Lira, Uganda in 2010, I volunteered my time to teach homeless street children how to use disposable cameras. Using a modified version of Photovoice, a community based participatory method, I incorporating story boarding and participatory photography using disposable cameras into a week long program implemented at Child Restoration Outreach (CRO) in Lira, Uganda. The aim of the program was to understand the different stories of the children who were living on the streets in Lira, Uganda.  Most children chose to use the storyboarding to tell stories of why they ended up living on the streets, why they became pregnant, or what their dreams and hopes were for the future. Using documentary photography, this video shows the environment that I observed the children in at CRO and on the streets. It also shows parts of the process that I took with the children, including lessons on how cameras work , drawing story boards for stories that they wanted to tell, group discussions of their developed photos, and one-on-one in depth interviews to discuss their more personal story-board drawings. It also features one student, Lydia, a transitioning street child, who desires to counsel other children. This Photovoice  and Storyboarding project was done as a feasibility project as well as an advocacy project, and was not intended to be research. The video does not show the resulting advocacy posters nor photographic exhibits that were also produced. The goal of this video is to show that using Photovoice and Storyboarding techniques is a feasible approach for understanding critical issues with vulnerable and illiterate children. As well, it is hoped that this video will encourage investigators to pursue research with vulnerable children, and consider using participatory methods when possible. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFPxTuG_8D8&sns=em