Training is complete! The ladies are launched into Mansa to
take photos that answer the research question – what are the barriers to
getting health care? As I told the ladies in closing today - I am done
instructing them and now I will be the one listening.
Today was focused on photo exercises. John led the ladies in
three activities where they could practice taking photos. In small groups the
ladies first practiced taking pictures of each other in both dark and light
locations. I’m not sure that they understood the purpose very well, but they
enjoyed taking photos of each other. John (with help from Christo from AFnet)
then reviewed all the photos. This involved taking the SIM card out of each
camera, uploading their photos to a folder and using the projector to show
images on the screen. Unfortunately the light and color that was projected was
not the same as on the laptop. The next task was for them to take photos of
objects and focus on composition: angles, rule of thirds and negative space.
Again John, Christo and I provided individualized feedback. The women were
visibly proud when John gave them praise for their work. There is definitely a
whole different dynamic in the room when males are present. This worked very
well for the photo training, but I am glad that any one-on-one or group
sessions will be with the women only as they are much more relaxed and many
more participate in discussions.
Lastly each of the three groups were given one word and they
were instructed to go out in the community and take photographs of that word.
Love – Family – Power. We reminded them of the three types of photographs that
we have been talking about: reality, posed, or symbols. Many of the women took
very literal pictures of their topic that were not very stimulating, but many
did exhibit critical thinking and creativity.
A few are shown below:
 |
| LOVE |
 |
| POWER |
 |
| FAMILY |
The photo exercises definitely took more time than I planned
for and I would have devoted more time to this. It was also frustrating that we
would ask them to only take eight photos and they would come back with 15-30 photos which we could obviously not review in a group setting in the given
time. I am sure we missed reviewing some good photos. Despite repeated instruction
about how to delete and how many to submit, it didn’t quite seem to sink in
with them. I was also quite concerned when at the end of the day after many
hours of discussion they could not tell me what the research question was. ACK!
Hopefully I reinforced the question before they left.
At the close of the day, it got a bit disjointed and there was lots of confusion in Bemba about the schedule for the next few days and the consent. I definitely lost control! Tomorrow they will be “in the field” taking photos and
Wednesday there will be a quick check-in to see if they are understanding the
concept and allow them to ask questions. However I am not sure that they understood that this would be a quick drop-in check in and I am concerned they will ALL show up at 1:00PM.
Below is the group photo of these 10 beautiful lades and Delia our translator (next to me on the left).
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