Thursday, February 25, 2010

2010 is off to a great start!

Peace in Focus thanks everyone who came out to our opening ceremony at the Harriet Tubman House on Feb. 11 in Boston! For those who weren't able to attend, the photos are on display (and for sale) through April. To see more photos visit our online Galleries.


We offer the following images of our 2010 activities thus far:

 
February 2010: Geisha, age 15, Peace in Focus youth leader, after appearing on NBC's Urban Update (which aired at 11:30AMEST on NBC on Sunday, February 28, 2010)

Here are a few links to other media coverage of our work:
  
February 11: Attendees at the opening ceremony to our photography exhibit on Feb. 11, 2010 at the Harriet Tubman House in Boston (photo courtesy of www.saulblumenthal.com)

 
 Massachusetts State Representatives Byron Rushing and Gloria Fox speaking at our opening ceremony, with Thaddeus Miles, PIF Board President, and Kevin Lee Harper, President and CEO of United South End Settlements (photo courtesy of www.saulblumenthal.com)
  February 17: Peace in Focus leads peace activities for Boston youth during BCYF's (Boston Center for Youth and Families) "Peace-a-Palooza"
 February 18: Peace in Focus and hundreds of local youth march to the Massachusetts State House to demand increased funding for summer youth jobs

Friday, January 29, 2010

Peace in Focus Boston Photography Exhibit, February 11, 2010

Thaddeus Miles and Peace in Focus present a "Celebration of Peace through Arts."

Despite being on the front lines of disaster, civil war, and urban and gang violence, youth voices and perspectives are rarely found in mainstream media. Peace in Focus works to train young people in photography, media, community leadership, and innovative peacebuilding practices with the aim of elevating youth voice and emphasizing the role of creativity in building community. Our exhibit and celebration on February 11 6-9PM at the Harriet Tubman House will showcase a selection of photos taken by Thaddeus Miles (Board President of PIF) and our young photographers in Boston, Burundi, and Liberia -- giving us a window into their lives, struggles, and undeniable talent as visual storytellers.

This event invites community members interested in photography, youth and community work, and global peace to celebrate youth efforts at creating visible social change. There will be interactive youth photography stations, spoken word, live music, light refreshments, special guests, and gifts for sale.


Photos will be on display through April.

For more information, contact info@peaceinfocus.org

Thaddeus Miles' photography: www.Tmilesphotography.net
Peace in Focus: www.peaceinfocus.org

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Peace in Focus Liberia Participant Bios

Alice



I am grateful that I was accepted to be a part of the Peace in Focus training workshop when I brought my brother for the workshop. It has added a new dimension to my life that I will forever remember. Did I forget? No. My name is Alice and I was born in August 1987 in Monrovia, Liberia. Liberia is great, we are recovering gradually from 14 years of civil war and one of such transformation has been Peace in Focus coming to Liberia. I am very glad you came and more happy that you afforded me an opportunity to participate and learn. I promise to use all the knowledge obtained especially those on conflict and violence by working on myself and then on others who are my peers.

Boakai 



My name is Boakai and I was born in January 1992. I am from Nimba County, one of the fifteen counties of Liberia. It is located in the North and is surrounded by Bong County, Grand Bassa County, Rivercess County, Sinoe County and Grand Gedeh County. It also shares a border with the Guinea and Ivory Coast. I graduated from High School on the last day of the Peace in Focus workshop, which was great. I love to go out with friends, play games, watch television especially football game and listen to jokes on radio. My favorite team is MANCHESTER UNITED football club, the #1 in the world. I love hot dogs, fufu and groundnut soup, fried okra soup, fried potatoes and many more. The training done by Kyle with the support of Ma Bendu and Pulano was great and we hope to get on more and more with making photos and telling stories of them. We shall also become good peacebuilders in our communities.

Emmanuel Chea       



Emmanuel Chea is my name and I was born in April 1993. Can you guess my age then? ____ ok. I have two brothers and five sisters and I am a proud Liberian. I attend the Matilda Newport Junior High School in Monrovia. It is one of the many public schools run and owned by the government. Every day of my life, I am dreaming of becoming a Doctor. My hope is to help young people by building a medical center for them. The Peace in Focus training workshop plays an important role in my life by helping me make images that tell stories. It also helps me understand that whenever I have a conflict with anyone, I should resolve it positively, but not to think of negative and destructive means that will breed more tension. My favorite foods are fried chicken, fish, fried beans and rice.

Emmanuel Kardyuway



My name is Emmanuel Kardyuway. Is my last name difficult for you to pronounce? It is easy, Kar-ju-way. It is a typical Liberian name. I was born in Bong County to the union of Martha Kardyuway and Moses Kardyuway in March 1992. I went to primary school and began my secondary education but could not continue because my parents could not pay my school fees.  I am currently living with my oldest brother and pray to be in school some day. I enjoyed the workshop. At least, I can become a good photographer if I do not go back to school. I hope this training continues so that I can fully learn all that I can with Peace In Focus thereby transforming my life and becoming a meaningful citizen. Thanks to our Liberian brothers and sisters who will assist us to improve in the absence of Kyle.

Fanny  



Fanny is my name and I do not know my age. I lived with my grandmother in Harbel, Margibi County for most of my childhood life. I came to Monrovia in 2004 and began school. Now I am a fourth grade student of the Esther Barcon Elementary School. It is a school owned and operated by the government. I enjoyed my days at the Peace In Focus workshop where I learned how to make photos and overcome conflict in my own life. It was really great for me and I know that all I learned can be used to improve my life. I am a very shy person but gradually I am beginning to interact with others. I see most of my friends are educated and I want to be educated too. In the future, I want to be a nurse.  


John


I was born in November 1992. I live in Monrovia and I am a 12th grader attending the New Era International School located at Bushrod Island. My desire is to be a medical doctor who will affect my community, country, and the world at large by fighting sicknesses, violence, and conflict daily. I am very grateful for the opportunity afforded me by through the training workshop. Through the training, I can now talk to my friends and others to stop violence. I now know how to tell a story from a picture. Pictures are meaning to my life and the transformation of my community and my country. Though we suffered much by the many years of civil war and the pictures we remember are all negative, but together, we can turn a negative picture into something positive and tell a new and resounding story. Here at home, I spend some of my time watching my favorite team CHELSEA FC. I love rice and spaghetti and sometimes other food like bread, eggs, potatoes, oranges, apples and banana. Finally, Peace In Focus, please come back again.

Naomi


Naomi is my name and I am 14 years old. I had many challenges at the Peace in Focus Workshop. It was my first time to handle a camera and more over to talk among my peers. As we went through the training, I learned to make stories of the picture I took and this has become a very important milestone for success in my life. To my friends, remember that this workshop has given us the space to transform our lives and hope many of my brothers and sisters in Liberia, and the world at large can benefit from such a meaningful program. I want to see development. Many Liberians are living in homes without toilets and as a result, people are using their communities to dispose of waste. Please let us change our attitude. I hope children will have the opportunity to go to school at an early age because I am now 14 years and in the first grade. I never had the opportunity but with God on my side I will learn and become someone great in the future.
Thanks to Peace in Focus and all our local trainers.

Paye


My name is Paye. I am a Liberian living in Monrovia, Liberia. I was born in July 1979 in Bah Town, Gbazon District, Grand Gedeh County. Grand Gedeh County is located in the southeastern region of Liberia. My time at the Peace In Focus Workshop was great. I was not one of those who were chosen as a participant but when I brought my little brother who was a participant, I asked to become a part and was accepted. Now I am learning to make better photos, deal with violence and conflict in my life and best of all relate to people. I am no longer the guy who keeps things inside. My favorite dish is cassava leaf with rice. Cassava leaf is a locally made food. Now I love to take photos, which is my best hobby.



Peter


I am 17 years old and I was born in Monrovia, Liberia. Presently I am living with my parents but not attending school and hope to go back to and continue my secondary education when they are financially able. The Peace in Focus training was great and I hope to become a good MAKER of photos. Cheers to all my friends in Burundi, Boston and Liberia.

Princess


My name is Princess. I was born in October 1994 in Camp Waterloo, Freetown, Sierra Leone unto the union of Mr. and Mrs. D. Samson Jeh. I am a sixth grade student attending the St. Michael Catholic Elementary School in Gardnesville. I want to become a doctor. I enjoyed my days at the program. There I learn how to talk among my friends, about photography, how to deal with violence, conflict, peace and how to answer questions.

Raphael



Raphael is my name. I was born in Ghana, but spend all my life in Liberia. I am sixteen years old and live with my dad and mom at the Steven Tolbert estate. My hobbies are leading, singing and most of the time playing football. My favorite kind of food is rice and fish. I love juices and some vegetables. My time at the Peace In Focus workshop was great. There I learned to make photos and today I am making meaningful photos that can change conflict and violence. My dream is to go to the United States of America to play basketball like Michael Jordan and effect change in the lives of Liberian youth.

Rita


I am 13 years old. I live around Hotel Africa in lower Virginia. I am a 7thgrade attending the Virginia Christian Academy. When I grow up, I want to be a Medical Doctor. Being a part of the Peace In Focus workshop was so great because I learned a lot of new things and met many new friends. For me, my favorite dish is rice with greens and fried chicken and my best friend is Thelma who was not a part of the program but knows all that we did. Hats off to our leaders, Mr. Pulano and Miss MaBendu.

Veronica



I was born in November 1992 to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson Dean. I am an 11th grade student at the G. W. Gibson High School. After my graduation, I want to go to a computer school to become an accountant and a good manager. My experience with Kyle, Pulano, and Ma Bendu was great. With them I learned how to make pictures and deal with violence and conflict situations. My favorite hobby is always to be by myself and study my lessons. Also, I love rice and fried fish the most.

Vincent


Vincent is my name and I turned seventeen years old in June 2009.  I am a 9th grade student of the Boatswain Junior High School located in the Jamaica Road Community. I am a Christian and a Grebo by tribe who wants to help change my country. There are sixteen tribes in Liberia. I am from Saywanken Jilapo District in Sinoe County. My desire is to become a Scientist. My second career choice has become what I learned from the Peace In Focus workshop. I want to fully know how to take photos, how to make images, how to read images and use the camera well. I want to help meaningfully resolve conflicts and stop violence.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Peace in Focus in Liberia

Peace in Focus ran a pilot program in Monrovia, Liberia from Sept. 28 - Oct. 2, 2009 for 14 local youth. Through collaboration with our local partners, the Liberia Media Center and the Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding, and with the support of the Liberia Peacebuilding Office, the Ministry of Youth and Sport, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Peace in Focus is working to launch wide-reaching youth development and peacebuilding programs in Liberia in early 2010. This workshop was intended to mobilize support and work with a cadre of talented and underprivileged Liberian youth. These young people have decided to launch a monthly Peace Journal, which will include their stories, photo-essays, and youth perspectives on news and Liberia's transition to peace. The journal will be available online and will be printed locally beginning in December 2009.

During one of our field trips around Monrovia, we visited a flooded and impoverished seaside neighborhood where one of our workshop participants lives. This visit gave our group a chance to visually confront some of the challenges facing each other's communities, and begin to think how they would like to communicate these stories through documentary photography.

To view the video, click the link below:

Monday, September 28, 2009

Boston Cultural Mapping - September 26, 2009

PHOTOS THAT REPRESENT BOSTON TO ME  

by Fehintola









Newspaper stands represents a lot in Boston because the newspaper represents a lot of what Boston is. Every morning when I am going to school I grab a copy of the metro and that gives me some of my information for the day. Pretty much every one in Boston reads some kind of newspaper, it is just a part of everyday life here, and it is a great way for people to stay connected to thing that are going in all around.






The public transportation in Boston to me is the best ever, because when you want to go some where most of the time the MBTA can take you there. It is so amazing, and it is a great way to save energy because then more people would not have to use their cars more often. I think the MBTA is a big part of Boston.



Not everyone in Boston is Religious, but religion is a big thing to me and I do know a lot of people who are residents of Boston who are religious. The thing is that we are made up of a lot of religions here and so it is very diverse. Some people don't consider themselves religious, some people just have some connection to something, and others just are themselves all the time. But religion is something that was in Boston early and so I think it is somewhat a big part of what kind of place Boston is.









The colleges and universities and Boston are very popular, and people come to Boston a lot to attend these schools, because they are so great. Like for instance Harvard was the first college here in Boston. Boston is a good place for education.










LIVING IN BOSTON

by Antonio



FUN: Basketball, smiling

FOOD: Pizza, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese

HOBBIES: Photography, learning, praising God

THE WEATHER AND NATURE: Cold! Unpredictable weather sometimes hot sometimes cold sometimes warm. Nature, city parks

TRANSPORTATION: Public transportation, aggravation! Its better to drive

NEIGHBORHOOD: My neighborhood is divided, black kids hang out with black kids, violent people with violent people. There isn’t a lot of unity, I really hope that I can do more to fix this problem.

HOME: Theres no place like home! I'm fed every day and I have a place to sleep. I live at home with my mom and I love every minute of it.


The below photo represents how as time goes by in Boston everything becomes more advanced including landscapes. This is how most people see Boston (very urban):






This photo is how I see my city Boston.  I love murals and people: 






This photo represents fun in Boston:








LIVING IN BOSTON 


by Dounia



FAVORITE MUSICION OR GROUP: Pink because she focus on real subjects in life , like why is there are so many homeless people.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET TO SCHOOL: About 20 minutes because it is not that far from my house, but that is just because I have to walk.

PLACE YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR FREE TIME: At a friend’s or family’s homes because I’m not home with my family that I go home to everyday.

AGE: 13 about to turn 14.

HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE IN YOUR HOME:  4 females, no boys.  We are used to being with just girls.

ITEM THAT YOU OWN THAT IS MOST VALUABLE TO YOU: My family because they are always there for me.

PRICE OF A PAIR OF SHOES: $38.00 I try to find good deals on things like my shoes and clothes.

FAVORITE HOBBY:  Walking my dog either in the late night or early morning because it is quiet and no one is out.

PRICE OF A LOAF OF BREAD: Either $2.00 or $1.50 because I always ignore the bread that is $3 or more than 3 dollars.

PETS OR ANIMALS AT HOME:  I have 1 cat that never sleeps when I need to and 1 dog that is scared of water and of the cat.  My dog is 9 the cat’s age is unknown right now but it is still very young.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Peace Day PhotoScavenger Hunt

Peace in Focus, together with Roots & Shoots and Greenschools, celebrated the International Day of Peace at the Jamaica Pond Boathouse in Jamaica Plain on September 20th, 2009. The festivities included games, music, spoken word, and a photo-scavenger hunt. Peace in Focus alumnae Geisha and Taylor led the activity, teaching young people and adults alike how to use the camera to photograph the clues. Participants had 30 minutes to find and creatively capture:
life, something younger/older than you are, something broken, movement/motion, gravity, contrast, peace, something you want to change, something abstract, love or friendship, something that flies, a close-up, a famous pose, someone in uniform, a candid picture of someone, diversity, youth power, reflection, and harmony in nature
The following photographs were selected among hundreds for being the most artistic, creative, thought-provoking, fun, and beautiful. Congratulations to all the talented photographers!




Go behind the scenes to see more.

Monday, September 21, 2009

I feel peaceful when...

On the International Day of Peace, we ask you to reflect on moments when you feel most peaceful. Please join us by contributing your thoughts to this photo essay.


Friday, August 28, 2009

Youth activism and Lou Jones' photography studio

 Ambureen:



My name is Ambureen and this is my first year doing Peace in Focus. Starting this program I was nervous. Nervous about not making friends, or not being able to meet a certain expectation. None of these things happened. Everyone was so friendly and we became friends so fast. In this blog I would like to talk a bit about what Peace in Focus was like.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

This is a quote, we encountered today. What does it mean to you? I interpreted it as, you can live life and take advantage of everything, appreciating what life gives you, and not taking it for granted, or you can treat nothing as a miracle. What we talked about today was leadership, leadership in our communities. We went over different ways of promoting change. Some things we talked about included starting clubs in our schools, and starting clean-ups in our community. One of our facilitators mentioned that there is more to do in our communities than just picking up the trash. She brought up a good point and mentioned all of the other things we could do to build our communities. I really enjoyed this program, and I really love making and spreading peace now. And photography has become a great passion of mine. Peace in Focus is a great program.

Dounia:


One day during the workshop we went to photographer Lou Jones' studio. He told us about his work and he took photos of some of us. We took our bio pictures there. We saw a lot of his pictures and he told us about how he likes taking pictures of pregnant women. He showed one of these pictures and said that the kid in the woman's belly then is now our age or older.. Amazing.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Identity and solidarity

Geisha:


One day this week we read the quote: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world…We are all meant to shine as children do." This really caught my eyes... Among the activities we have done this week, we were working in stations and we talked about different things: interviewing each other in 2019, preparing the blog, talking about media distortion, looking at iconic images, editing our photos, and designing the Peace in Focus T-shirt!


Sherly:


We did this activity called mapping your identity, where we had to draw a figure of a person and draw lines from its eyes, ears, liver, feet, heart, head and muscles and write how that body part has helped you to get where you've been. For example, what you’ve seen/heard/touched, how they has affected your identity, and where you want to go.

Today we played this game called Crossing the Line. Basically this game was a game to help us get to know and understand each other and we also revealed secrets about ourselves that none of us knew about. So the way you play the game is that a facilitator asks questions and you step across the line if it applies to you.

Next we went outside and took three pictures of how we saw our identity: how we see ourselves, how we think others see us, and how we want to be seen.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Leadership, Light, and Community Mapping

Taylor:

We’re now finishing the second week at Peace in Focus. Everyday we start off with a quote and have to write down what we think it means. One quote this week was from Albert Einstein. The quote was: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

I think that this quote means that you can choose which way to live your life. One way will turn out good while the other way may not be as great. During the day we talked about leadership characteristics. Here is the list of what characteristics we think a leader should have: Confidence, Positive Action, Influence, Public Speaking, Motivation, Role Model, Trust, Build Relationship, and Honesty

When we were done with that we went outside and talked about light and contrast. We took pictures of objects that had a reflector or sunlight on them, or objects that showed light.

Meshach:

My first week at Peace in Focus was awesome because we traveled around Boston and took pictures that describe the environment. I took pictures of things that describe the area around M.I.T. and the Christian Science Museum. Pictures of tall buildings and nature showed the area around M.I.T. and Christian Science Museum. In all the scenery was very beautiful and I had a great time that day.

Check out our interactive Boston map here.