The Joy of Photography

April 23 is Children's Day in Turkey. It was started because Ataturk did something special for children on that day in the 1920's. I have found that most holidays in Turkey have something to do with Ataturk at some point. On this day there is no school, and people go out of their way to make children feel appreciated in special ways. For example, the week before Children's Day, I went with a friend and her Rotaract group to the local orphanage, to paint faces, make balloon animals, and spend time with the kids. (As a side note, I have had the opportunity to use the face paints that I bought here 6 times in the last 8 months. That's a lot of face painting!)

On the actual day though, I got to be a part of a project that Ben and Verna worked to put on with some other volunteers here, both Turkish and ex-pat, for students with special needs. A masters student from Northwestern, in Seattle, led the project as part of her degree. Students with special needs, mostly down syndrome, were each given a digital camera, and were paired up with typical high school students. The goal of the project was for the special needs students to learn about photography, but mostly to give these students a voice, a way to express themselves. On the first day of the project the students went on a photo scavenger hunt to practice using the cameras. On the second day, they were asked to take pictures of what they thought was beautiful, and what they thought was ugly. The pictures they took will be on display in some public format later this month in Antalya, and at some point at Northwestern as well.

This was a fabulous project, and I know that Pam, one of the volunteers here, plans to continue with different groups of students in the future. It was such a joy to see these students with cameras in their hands. Their eyes lit up as they realized that they got to hold the camera and take pictures of whatever they wanted. Someone trusted them enough to give them a camera, and appreciates their photos. It was also great to see the bonding between each set of partners. I know that projects like this will go a long way towards the inclusion of people with special needs into Turkish community. Everyone seemed to have lots of fun, and the kids took great pictures. I can't wait to see what they saw that day through the lens of a camera.