In their pictures, we see Kampala only as children, left to fight for themselves in a city rampaged by poverty, could expose. The poverty, the loss, the struggle with HIV and AIDS and the sense of alienation so frequently associated with Africa are stark. However, there is a greater depth to their stories – these students simultaneously expose the raw beauty of the abundant market, the poignancy of unsuspected friendships, and the recognition that the past and the future are wonderfully interrupted by the opportunities found in school, a home or a simple meal.

The potent interplay of the expected and the unexpected captured in a single frame by our students demands that we put aside our tendency to impose narratives, and instead listen closely to their pictures and stories of the lives they tell.

Today, Listen to my Pictures is an ongoing project based out of Connecticut in the United States. The initial pioneer program continues in Kampala. The exhibition generated from the original photos was debuted in Kampala in 2005 and is currently on tour throughout Uganda and the United States, including a show in New York.

Projects have also been conducted in Gulu, Uganda where the repercussions of a decade-long rebel activity include child abductions, forced child soldiering and colossal HIV/AIDS prevalence. We are currently expanding our operations into Rwanda, Central America as well as the United States.

Five boys and five girls, ages 9 through 15, were given a series of disposable cameras over several weeks and taught the basics of photography. In workshops organized at the Youth Corps homes, the children established ideas about what they wanted to document. Along the streets of Kampala, they then recreated pieces of their former and present lives. With raw honesty, the young photographers captured images that mixed universal themes of youth with lives of grave hardship. What came from this project exceeded all expectations.