Students in Dadaab get expert media training
Student Manyi (right) receives a camera and certificate from her headteacher Mrs Situma during the photo contest exhibition.
A recent pilot project has seen students in 6 secondary schools managed by Windle International Kenya (WIK) learn visual storytelling techniques as an art of self-expression and as a way to convey their everyday lives in the refugee camp.
This is a partnership pilot project involving the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), FilmAid Kenya and WIK. 60 boys and 60 girls across 6 six secondary schools in Dadaab Refugee Camp were selected to benefit from a 3-month photography training and media mentorship program, from October to December 2021.
The objectives of the project were:
to empower young learners with basic visual storytelling techniques as an art of self-expression
to enhance visual storytelling capacity of high school youth in Dadaab
Photography skills training as an art of visual storytelling, to enable students to tell stories that speak to day-to-day happenings in the camp.
The project targeted 20 participants (10 boys and 10 girls) per school for a period of 2 weeks where they were given a camera to take photos that speak of their day-to-day activities and experiences during their free time. This was with the support of WIK head teachers and Journalism Club patrons.
External judges were involved in selecting the best students with the best photo stories and awarded with small cameras. 2 winners, 1 boy and 1 girl were selected per school.
A weeklong photo gallery exhibition contest was held in one selected school per camp, with Windle International Kenya ensuring parents, teachers, and school management to be in attendance.
