Gandhi-ji Project

Everyday, these children are rewriting my ideas of photography, of learning, of teaching, of living. I have been spending much of my time with the students at Druk Padma Karpo school and feel privileged. I have decided that splitting my time between two schools is not fair to the students, or to me, for that matter. It is because of this that I will be dedicating all my time, efforts, and program funding toward the children at Druk Padma Karpo/Druk White Lotus. These children have worked their way into my heart and I feel an honest connection with them. They have, collectively, in the last two months I've been working with them, taken over 5,000 images (most of which have been extremely captivating). 

The most recent project was one conducted with the 6th grade class. As Gandhi's birthday is approaching (October 2nd), we decided to create a project around his ideals. I randomly pulled about 20 quotes off the internet (a referenced site) and put each of the quotes into a hat. The students got into groups of three and chose one quote from the hat. They read the quote and then I spoke with each group about what they thought their quote might mean. After discussing this at length, the students went outside with one camera, per each group of three, and began making images that represented, in some way, their interpretation of the Gandhi quote that they had chosen. The results were, as always, breathtakingly beautiful. 

The group belonging to the image shown above was given the quote: "To deprive a man of his natural liberty and to deny to him the ordinary amenities of life is worse then starving the body; it is starvation of the soul, the dweller in the body."

About Dreams, Love, Hope, Freedom, Happiness, and Peace

As adults, it's our duty to tell children about the importance of dreams...that they give a sense of direction. Dreams give a vision and, if nurtured, can bloom within a child, giving direction and light. I'm learning so much from these kids each and every day. They are teaching me how to teach them, how important it is to encourage creativity and openness of mind to young adults. These children are so engraved with the idea that there is always a right answer and a wrong answer. What's been great about this kind of work, with these kids, is that they are learning there is no real wrong answer when it comes to talking about how they feel, their emotions, and expressing those emotions. 

The most recent project I've started with the children is entitled, "Love, Hope, Freedom, Happiness, and Peace," (a long title, I know). During this project, I set out five cards, each with one word written on it (i.e. 'peace', 'love', 'hope', etc.). The students then chose one of the words and described what it meant to them, keeping in mind that there was no right or wrong answer, only their personal response. After writing what love or hope or freedom meant to them, we talked, as a group, about symbolism and how different words have various visual symbols which represent those particular words. After discussing the visual symbols, I handed out the cameras and the children ran outside to make their photographs. The results have been beautiful, lovely, creative, amazing. I'm so excited to share them all with the world! And as Gandhi's birthday is fast arriving (October 2nd), there is much reason to speak of these themes of love, hope, peace, freedom, and happiness. I can see the students opening up before my very eyes. It's beautiful and I feel truly lucky to be here to witness it.

A Broken Camera, A Finished Project, and A Hike Up A Mountain

It finally happened yesterday! One of the cameras broke. I was wondering how long it was going to take before we broke those cameras in (pun intended). It was an accident and the guilty party was apologetic. Frankly, I was relieved. I felt like it was a kind of christening for the program that I had been waiting for for a while now. I handed the boy my personal camera and he took off smiling. 

 The group of 6th and 7th graders were the last to participate in, "The Best Part of Me" project yesterday at the Druk White Lotus School. Being the oldest students at the school, they grasped the idea of the project failry quickly and easily. Their images were beautiful and clear. I helped a few of the 6th graders pinpoint the subject of their photo, but other than that, they were all driven by their own ideas and creativity. Ahhhhh......success!

 The project is now coming to a close as I'm making prints to be stitched together in a final grid formation to be hung on the wall of the community dining hall. I can't wait to get it up there, to watch the kids walk in and see their own faces staring back at them. It will be great. I will try to video tape it and post it. 

 To finish the day off, I took a walk up to the Leh Palace in the dark (with no flashlight - smart, I know), which is very difficult since you have to scale the side of a mountain for part of the journey. But, when I reached the top, the city was breathtaking - lit up from the inside, out. All of Leh was glowing last night. I felt such a sense of accomplishment, not just for myself, but for the students. I'm so proud of these kids I can barely stand it. So I guess I will just keep climbing mountains with each of their triumphs, big or small, to exhale some of this LIFE that's overflowing in me. It isn't hard to see, even when I close my eyes, the new world these kids are creating through their cameras.