Ahecha Paraguay

International Photo Exchange

2010-03-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

I would like to share with everyone a successful AHECHA Project in my site Pilar, Paraguay. My dad visited July 2009 for three weeks in Pilar and asked me early on to be involved in one of my projects. I purposely coordinated with CoCuMu to check out cameras while my dad was in Pilar. My dad, Bob Byrd a professional photographer and educator in Vancouver, WA was enthusiastic about the prospect of teaching Pilar youth about the art of Photography. We began planning an International cultural exchange project, an exchange of photographs between Pilar and Vancouver, WA spring 2009. My dad teaches at Hudson’s Bay High School, an urban high school with 2000 students where he proposed the project to his Advanced Photography students Spring 2009 with question what would they like to know about the youth culture of Pilar, Paraguay? The students were asked to respond to the question and were sent out with cameras in hand to show through pictures their own youth culture of Vancouver, WA.

Last July while in Pilar, my dad and I held six informal photography workshop sessions with seven youth from a local high school, Coliego Pilar. In the end, both the eleven students of Vancouver, WA and the seven Pilar students showed through pictures an idea of what youth culture is like in their own respective cultures. The culmination of this International Photography exchange project was fifty six prints destined to be shown in a two different photo exhibits, one exhibit in Vancouver, WA and the other in Pilar, Paraguay. My dad is able to sum up the project, “While the two groups are physically and culturally separated and there are some distinct differences in lifestyles, some fascinating similiarities are revealed by the young photographers.” The photo exhibit was held in Vancouver last December 2009 with 50 attendees’ opening night. The Vancouver exhibit has appeared in two publications which can be viewed in this blog. The show is now currently on display at Hudson’s Bay High School. The exhibit here in Pilar, Paraguay is tentatively scheduled (entirely weather dependent) for April 2010 in the Cabildo Pilar, the old city hall, followed by an exhibition in Colegio Pilar. As of now, my dad is asking to start another Photo Exchange Project. Way to go Dad!

-Brian, February 2010

Ahecha Yuty

2009-06-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

Photos from Ahecha Yuty now hang in the Municipal Library, covering nearly every free inch of wall space, making pueblo-famous ten Yuteñas, all student-teachers in their twenties. The ten photographers will graduate in July from Yuty’s Instituto de Formación Docente (IFD) as teachers of Initial Education, and their community photos were taken during a period of intense work, study, and practice. In the final months of their degree work, these women attend classes in the morning and student-teach in preschools and kindergartens in the afternoon. Many care for family members--children, mothers, brothers and sisters, even soon-to-be-born babies--in down moments. It amazes me that the women found time to participate in basic digital photography workshops. But they did!

We often met on Saturday mornings and occasionally wrangled a bit of time away from their morning classes to talk about perspective and movement, to experiment with color options, to analyze published photographs, to practice downloading photos on one of the IFD’s three computers, even to make picture frames from old cardboard boxes. To be honest, the women of Yuty’s community photography project show more artistic ability than their supposed teacher, capturing the pueblo’s character in its church, flowers, families, motos, river, soccer fields, asado and chipa, even in its mud. (Yuty sits 90 kilometers from the nearest asphalt. When it downpours, a person can’t return from the neighboring despensa without mud-caked pants.)

More than anything, I came away from the project with the sense that many photographers had discovered something about themselves: whether it be a newfound appreciation for a mother’s hard work, a critical take on the local volleyball club’s exclusion of women, confidence in one’s ability to learn a new technology, or a more serious interest in art. I learned, thanks to our community excursions with cameras and my friends’ ribbing, to relax and walk more slowly, because I was failing to see a thousand interesting details every morning.
Amy Dickinson, G-26, EEE Yuty, Departamento Caazapá

2009-04-07T13:57:00.000-07:00

Chicas con camaras is the name of the game in Tavapy II. 5 female participants have proven to be natural photographers, sin verguenza. They range in age from 17 to 23 and include two single mothers. They showed a lot of interest in taking pictures of nature and even more interest at a chance to leave Tavapy, so we found a brother willing to drive us the 75K to Nacunday Nature Preserve. There the girls got a chance to photograph the stunning, huge falls and get out of the house for a day...
Megan Wood

G-26 UYD

Tavapy II, Alto Parana

Ahecha in Villarica

2009-04-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

I worked with 12 children and youth from Barrio San Miguel in Villarrica. The youth ranged in age from 9 to 17 years old, and included 10 girls and 2 boys. I organized 6 photo excursions for the youth to various parts of Villarrica. Varying numbers of youth attended the excursions, depending on their availability. Because we had the use of only 5 cameras, the students were often required to share a camera, which they did willingly.

The youth loved taking pictures, viewing each others pictures, and getting the instant feedback that a digital camera provides. They also enjoyed exploring different parts of Villarrica. The highlights for them included climbing to the top of the bell tower of the old church in barrio Ybaroty, climbing to the top of the stadium, visiting the private museum of the Tres Gomez (a group of singing brothers with roots in Villarrica who lived in California for a number of years and performed all over the world), and the solar oven at the Municipalidad.

The youth took over 1000 pictures and from this they selected the 25 photos for the exposition. The exposition was held in front of the museum downtown and was very well received by the people who stopped to view the photos and talk with the youth. The museum expressed interest in displaying a few photos of popular sites in town, and also mentioned the possibility of using a few photos to create postcards to sell to visitors to Villarrica (they often get requests for postcards but have none available). A local businessman also expressed interest in creating a photography club in Villarrica (some years ago there had been such a club) and will display some of the photos in his reception area.

All in all, the project as a lot of fun. Thanks!

Mary Hammes
G26-UYD

Ahecha in Barrio San Miguel, Villarrica

2009-03-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

I worked with 12 children and youth from Barrio San Miguel in Villarrica. The youth ranged in age from 9 to 17 years old, and included 10 girls and 2 boys. I organized 6 photo excursions for the youth to various parts of Villarrica. Varying numbers of youth attended the excursions, depending on their availability. Because we had the use of only 5 cameras, the students were often required to share a camera, which they did willingly.

The youth loved taking pictures, viewing each others pictures, and getting the instant feedback that a digital camera provides. They also enjoyed exploring different parts of Villarrica. The highlights for them included climbing to the top of the bell tower of the old church in barrio Ybaroty, climbing to the top of the stadium, visiting the private museum of the Tres Gomez (a group of singing brothers with roots in Villarrica who lived in California for a number of years and performed all over the world), and the solar oven at the Municipality.

The youth took over 1000 pictures and from this they selected the 25 photos for the exposition. The exposition was held in front of the museum downtown and was very well received by the people who stopped to view the photos and talk with the youth. The museum expressed interest in displaying a few photos of popular sites in town, and also mentioned the possibility of using a few photos to create postcards to sell to visitors to Villarrica (they often get requests for postcards but have none available). A local businessman also expressed interest in creating a photography club in Villarrica (some years ago there had been such a club) and will display some of the photos in his reception area.

All in all, the project as a lot of fun.

Thanks!
Mary Hammes
G26-Urban Youth Development

Tacuatí, San Pedro

2009-02-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

Ahecha has been one of the most gratifying projects I've engaged in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, both for me and for my community. My students' parents love that their children are getting a chance to learn a little bit about the digital hardware that's now spreading to all corners of the globe. I love having the chance to "equalize" this technology for my community. They see me using my computer and my camera, and teaching computer classes - here finally is a chance for them to not just observe and learn, but to fully use, choose, and decide.

But most of all, Ahecha is great for my students. Aside from the technical skills they've learned, my girls have had a chance to develop their own self-knowledge, sense of beauty, and sense of place in their communities. For them, photography is a powerful tool for learning to step back and really analyze aspects of their lives that they'd previously taken for granted. Being asked why they like one image over another, or composed a shot in a certain manner is a novel experience - both in the sense that it exposes underlying assumptions about "el como debe ser de la vida" and in the sense that very few people care to ask 'tween Paraguayan girls their opinions on any topic. Whether or not this is the start of a life-long love affair with photography for my students or not, our photo review and selection sessions are a priceless opportunity for them to form, evaluate, and explain their own opinions.

When our project cycle is completed, we'll submit our girls' best photos for display in our community and further abroad. We also hope to put some of the photos on permanent display in the new wing of our town hall, as a monument both to life in Paraguay and to how wonderfully perceptive and artistic Paraguayans can be.

Liz Mariela’s mother looks very much like her daughter, and they both have a lot on their minds.

Lucy thinks the process of taking photos is just as interesting as the photos that come out.

Evelyn’s little brother Rodrigo spends a lot of time listening to music.

Mary Kennon Walker
Rural Economic Development Volunteer
G-24

Caraguata Ru´a, Paraguarí

2009-02-07T06:29:00.000-08:00

Jeff Nicholson hosted Ahecha workshops in June of 2008, but wanted to share a few tid-bits from his community!

Caraguata Ru'a is a small farming community in rural Paraguay right atthe base of Cerro San Jose. The Ahecha project was successful, atleast in the goal of having kids going out and taking pictures. Therewere four boys from the ages of 14 to 21 involved and two girls ages16 and 18. Actual tallers were difficult to coordinate due to thehigh schooler's conflicting schedules. There was a first taller witheveryone in order to distribute the cameras and give a basicexplanation of how to use and care for the cameras. The rest of theproject was done in a one on one format with each of the participantsin order to critique, explain and help develop their individualcreativity. There was another group activity in which we climbed tothe top of Cerro San Jose, taking pictures along the way, documentingthe journey, with some amazing results of the surrounding landscapesand rock structures.

Jeff Nicholson

Rural Health

G-23

Ahecha in Tacuati, San Pedro

2009-02-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

Ms. Mary Kennon and Mr. Liam Winters are running a stellar set of workshops in Tacuati, San Pedro.

Follow this link to meet their students!
http://marykennon.com/ahecha-tacuati/

Ahecha in San Luis, Guaira

2009-01-30T03:50:00.001-08:00

My site is a decent sized farming community called Compania San Luis which is in southern Guaira near Numi which is the major pueblo priorto reaching Caazapa. "AHECHA" went pretty well for the most and is still going. I had arocky start with finding willing participants but after a few tries I found a calidad group of young kids. I selected three girls and two boys (as the females in my opinion seem to have less of a spotlight or opportunities). The two boys are ages eleven and twelve. The three girls are ages ten,twelve, and thirteen.

All of the participants are members of a small grupo de juvenil which performs teatro's with PLAN Paraguay. This was the absolute first time for all five of the participants to take pictures with a digital camera and they absolutely enjoyed figuring out and playing with the many views and features that digital photography provides.

At the end of the first session I had the participants write up a two paragraph reply to "what they hoped to learn" and "what they wanted toachieve" with AHECHA. At the end of the last session the participants replied to "what did they learn" and "what did they enjoy" with AHECHA. I enjoyed the AHECHA photography project, working with the participants and their generous families, and promoting creativity amongst the Paraguayan youth.

aloha mai y mahalo,
Brandon Kobashigawa
Environmental Education
G-25

Ahecha in Ayolas, Misiones

2009-01-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

Ahecha Paraguay – Ayolas I participated in the Ahecha Paraguay project with six youth of my community during the months of October and November. I was able to have six participants because one of them had his own camera and thus freed up one camera for another participant. Their ages ranged between 13-22.

I think that each of them truly enjoyed the project and the whole experience. I thought Ayolas was the perfect place to do this project because I work with the youth in a community ecological group called Eco Ayolas. Ayolas is located on the Rio Parana, which makes for some fantastic places to go and take pictures of nature. It was fun for me to teach the kids about photography since I am not an artist by any means, but I enjoy taking pictures and I do know the basics about photography. I enjoyed watching the kids take photos and I did spend time individually with them as well. This opportunity on a whole was a great experience for all of us. After the project I heard the kids say how much they missed having the camera with them at all times to “capture the moment” since I stressed to them you never know when a moment might arise to take photos. Hopefully this changed their perspective of the environment and what things are lindo or hermoso. If anything, this project provided Paraguayan youth with an opportunity that they might never have had and gave them a chance to exhibit their work to the community.

Mandi Horvath
Environmental Education, G-25

Oveja en la Casa de Abuela

Una Maravilloso Amanecer

Ayolas Ahecha Group

Great photographs to show participants

2008-10-07T13:58:00.001-07:00

The photos shown here are ment to be used as resources for showing youth what amazing photographs are. They are in no way ment to be a copyright infringement or claimed as our own.

What is Ahecha?

2008-08-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

Ahecha Paraguay in the indigenous language of Guaraní of the Guaraní people of Paraguay means, “I see Paraguay”. Ahecha Paraguay is a participatory photography project designed to provide Paraguayan youth the opportunity to develop their creativity, their self-confidence, and gain new life perspectives through the lenses of cameras. The project puts cameras in the hands of young Paraguayans and teaches them the basics of photography through highly interactive workshops that promote self-discovery, creativity, and self-analysis. Ahecha Paraguay also includes photo exchanges between participating communities as a means of fostering understanding of others and pride in one’s own work. Ahecha Paraguay culminates on an annual basis with national exhibitions of selected photographs from every community.