Ugandan children capture their own stories with Project Focus
VIDEO - In the media-saturated world, it can be easy to be bombarded by images, information, and problems. But one group of students sought to change that ...
In the media-saturated world we live in, it can be easy to be bombarded by images, information, and problems. But one group of students at the University of Illinois-Chicago sought to change that, and the impact they’ve had has been extraordinary.
One evening in 2006, four college students met to watch “The Invisible Children”, a documentary about child soldiers in Uganda. Little did they know that by the time the DVD stopped spinning, their lives, and the lives of strangers thousands of miles away, would change forever. Inspired by the film, the friends decided to travel to Uganda to do whatever they could to help. They raised enough money to afford plane tickets, and jetted out as soon as they could.
Daniel Yang, one of the four college students, secured a medical internship in a Ugandan hospital doing research and treating tuberculosis patients. Riding the fumes of his post-documentary inspiration, he was still set out to help address the child soldier crisis. But as he soon discovered, he wasn’t the only one.
“With an issue as hard-hitting as [child soldiers] I found it difficult to make any difference whatsoever,” says Yang.
Uganda, saturated with aid workers, humanitarian groups and media organizations, was and still remains a country with severe problems stemming from years of war, poverty and disease. But Yang decided to think outside the box. While documenting his trip with the help of an Israeli photojournalist, he had an epiphany.
“We would walk into town with our cameras, but quickly realized we’d change the dynamic just by being there,” Yang remembers.
That night, he returned home and emailed his friends in Chicago, who were planning on joining him within a matter of weeks. They arrived carrying a green vintage suitcase, and when they revealed its contents they were surprised to find 22 cameras and more than 100 rolls of film.
Project Focus was born. The Chicago team partnered with a small school in the southwestern Ugandan town of Lyontonde, and trained 16 students how to use the cameras. They met once a week to go over the children’s photos, and Project Focus soon took notice to what was emerging. The children captured the effects of different social issues, like poverty and HIV/AIDS, in their images, though surprisingly showcasing the community’s resilience and ability to overcome adversity.
When Project Focus returned to the U.S, they showcased the photos in cities around the country, highlighting the issues captured in the children’s images. Raising funds at the exhibits allowed the group to return on multiple trips to Uganda, and embark on different art and development projects there. Grant Buhr, an audio engineer from L.A, joined Project Focus in 2007, and is currently stationed in Lyontonde as the group’s long term volunteer in Uganda.
Helping bridge the gap between two very different worlds, Project Focus has garnered the support of artists, activists, and philanthropists in Chicago. Since 2006, they have registered as an official 501c non-profit organization, and continue to raise money for development projects requested by locals in Lyontonde.
As the group works toward building Lyontonde’s first and only solar powered Internet café, one thing has kept this group going: a mission to educate, inspire, and empower the communities they work in.
“Yes, there’s tragedy that exists across the world,” Yang says. “But we want to do something. We’re not going to change the world, but at least we decide not to accept doing nothing.”
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