Project Report
| Sep 4, 2018
Heal Syrian Refugee Children - report 9
By Dioni Tegou | Assistant project leader
![Neighborhood level healing photography]()
Neighborhood level healing photography
Here is our latest news from our Heal Syrian Refugee Children Through Photography project!
During the summer months and due to the fact that the weather conditions in the camp were not conducive (extreme heat, humidity, heavy rainfall in between) we decided to experiment with a different format of roving/mobile healing photography workshops.
Together with our team of photographers we “roamed” around the neighborhoods and areas in central Athens where there was a big concentration of Syrian families living in renting accommodation outside the camp and with small teams of children and members of their families we circled around the neighborhood areas capturing random shots from the life around the neighborhood.
This format increased our reach and penetration of Syrian community for those who live outside the camp and kept the children creatively occupied during a period when all schools and classes are shut for the duration of summer period.
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Jun 5, 2018
Heal Syrian Refugee Children - report 8
By Maria Karra | Project Leader
Here is our latest update of The workshop at the Thiva Refugee Open Hospitality Structure!
Yes, it is already summer, with temperatures above 30 degrees Celcius and we are slowly but steadily moving outdoors for all the classes.
The 15+ year old, have presented their first self-made photography project based entirely on all the technical skills they have learnt in the last 3 months. They see the results of their hard work and it is very touching. We keep “losing” participants, as they move to other Refugee Hospitality Structures or get their documents sorted to move on. It always causes an emotional void after one of the students leaves our class and it affects everyone for some time. These young kids and young adults, are nevertheless resilient and they somehow recover swiftly. Our photographers and volunteers describe it as a huge learning curve and character shaping.
As we had announced previously, our first monthly joint workshop has taken place, which we have to admit was very challenging. The photos served as a reference to their previous life as well as a compass for their current situation and the aspirations and dreams for the future. Some of the young participants, have stated that they would like to become professional photographers and they hope they can get the chance to earn a living out of it. They mentioned that it is a less painful way to describe and reflect what they have been through and use it as a source of inspiration and strength for the future.
We informed them that our project video "Taking Young Syrians to a healing journey through photography with GlobalGiving" did not win any accolades but that the true value is that they engaged wholeheartedly into a team project.
In June and July, we have scheduled full day trips for abstract and nature photography.
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Mar 6, 2018
Heal Syrian Refugee Children Report 7
By Maria Karra | Project Leader
The workshop at the Thiva Refugee Open Hospitality Structure is still running strong and with a good number of participating children.
The warm, mild weather conditions have assisted the project to create even more interest and buzz; children are now able to be occupied for longer hours within the day and capture moments of the flourishing, spring nature. Their colorfull captions show the change in their mood; they seem happier, more playfull and positive. There is a demand from the 15+ young participants to focus on more technical parts of photography, which makes us wonder if this is a sign for a more committed approach to photography being also a professional direction.
Our project team members are concurrently witnessing and documenting the encouraging change of emotions in the children, as well as their family members. As of May, we are anticipating holding one monthly joint workshop with the students and their parents in order to explore story telling from the entire members of a family.
On the side of the day to day routine, the highlight for the children was the week where our team members were filming for our project video "Taking Young Syrians to a healing journey through photography with GlobalGiving". Our young students have actively assisted the project and we are so proud of what they were able to achieve.
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