Sale is done. Bits of news!

The Pieces of Innocence exhibit at Foreign Affairs headquarters in Ottawa is now over. Thanks to everyone who went to check it out. I'm still amazed by how these photos made it so far.

If any of you have thoughts of the images, feel free to share in the comments.

Thanks also to everyone that purchased one! If you were interested in getting one but missed the auction, get in touch and we might be able to sort something out!

This weekend, the images will be on display during a private function in Parliament and on December 16, they'll be shown at a Christmas concert. This concert is a benefit for the Tumaini Children's Project and should be quite awesome. I'll post more information about it when it becomes available.

Things with TCP are getting to be pretty exciting. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Merci!

Pieces of Innocence photos for sale on eBay!

Alright! There's been a lot of talk about exhibits and all but never have each of the 16 photos actually been shown here. That is changing RIGHT NOW. For the first time, you can now see the photos that are on display at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa until October 31, online! I'm pretty excited about this. Are you?

Each photo you see in this post is being auctioned on eBay. If there's one that interests you, you should click on it. This will lead you to the auction page where you can learn more about the individual photograph and place a bid!

The auctions will run until the end of the exhibit on October 31.

Proceeds from the sale of these photos will go back towards youth projects in Western Kenya which is pretty awesome. This is a unique opportunity for you to play a part in making a difference in the lives of Kenyan children!


Boy against a wall. Blaise Omondi, 12-years-old.

Walking at the primary school. Christopher Omondi, 10-years-old.

Multipurpose building at the orphanage. Christopher Omondi, 10-years-old.

My friend laughing. Damacrine Kwamboka, 10-years-old.

Hide and Seek. Damacrine Kwamboka, 10-years-old.

My hand in Lake Victoria. Dennis Mukwa, 10-years-old.

Self-Portrait. Dennis Mukwa, 10-years-old.

Moments from the water. Felix Ojuang, 9-years-old.

Walking at the orphanage. Felix Ojuang, 9-years-old.

Mary Claire in class. Felix Omondi, 8-years-old.

Friends at school. Felix Omondi, 8-years-old.

AIDS - Where did you come from? Grace Awuor, 9-years-old.

My friends in the truck. Grace Awuor, 9-years-old.

Mary Vivian. Lorine Akinyi, 12-years-old.

Joy shows off a doll. Mary Claire Auma, 9-years-old.

My sister and friends. Mary Claire Auma, 9-years-old.

Awesome photos right? These kids all worked really hard and I miss them so much. It's amazing to me that their work has come this far. So proud. SO PROUD!

There's more going on with Piga Picha and Pieces of Innocence too. Joanna and Alyssa have started a similar workshop at Regent Park Public School in Toronto. Alyssa and Catherine are planning an exhibit in Toronto and Jenny's got things rolling in North Bay. Exciting times for us. Exciting times for the Tumaini Children's Project.

Thanks to everyone for their support and for reading this blog to follow our progress! xox

Also, shout out to MoreTimeMoms, GPC Labworks and Michelle's FrameMaker and Gallery. Huge support. HUGE!

The exhibit is up and photos will be for sale soon!

We're a week into the exhibit now. Setting it up and the response has been pretty overwhelming. In Ottawa, CBC, CHUO and CKCU have each covered the exhibit. Sometimes twice.

A big thank you to anyone that has gone to see the photos already. A lot went into getting the photos created in Kenya and then finally mounted on a wall. The list of thank yous is way too long (you can see it at the exhibit) but really, it is so appreciated!

The photos will be up in the lobby of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa) until October 31. If you haven't seen these photos yet, make the trip. It's worth it!

In an effort to raise money for the Tumaini Children's Project, a print edition of the photos that are part of the exhibit will be auctioned on eBay between October 21 and 31. More information will be posted here on the 21st but you should bookmark the Tumaini Children's Project eBay page anyway!

Here it is: http://myworld.ebay.ca/tumaini_childrens_project

Upcoming stuff in the works includes Black History Month in Ottawa, an exhibit in Toronto and another in North Bay. There might be some other events in December too but I don't have the details in front of me right now so I'll leave it at thatl.

Upcoming exhibit in Ottawa!

Things have been a little quiet over here but believe us...they have not been inactive!

We're just days away from launching a major exhibition called Pieces of Innocence in the lobby of the Pearson Building (Foreign Affairs headquarters at 125 Sussex Drive in Ottawa). The exhibit will be open to the public from Monday, October 6 to Friday, October 31, 2008.

For more info on the exhibit, you can check out the event page on Facebook.

It would also be super cool if you joined the Tumaini Children's Project Facebook Group!



I also want to say thank you, asante sana (Kiswahili) and ero komano (Luo) to some of our major supporters including MoreTimeMoms, GPC Labworks and Michelle's Frame Maker and Gallery in North Bay. Michelle was completely stupendous and provided an overwhelming contribution in framing supplies for this exhibit. A lot of other businesses in North Bay supported the project too. Thanks to everyone for their generosity.

If you've been following this blog, you know what's up but if not, this summer, a few of us went to Kenya to teach a photography workshop at an HIV orphanage. We've been back since early August and have since made presentations at the World Youth Congress in Québec City, Zoom in on the World in Pembroke and at World Global Health Day at the University of Ottawa Medical School.

That's it for now, I think. More to come later. Leave a comment if you have any questions!

The World Youth Congress

I must say, it was an incredible privilege to take Piga Picha to the World Youth Congress in Quebec. With a warm atmosphere of enthusiasm the 500 delegates from 120 different countries set up exhibitions, gave workshops, participated in international dialogues, and went on the World Youth Walk.

The photographs by the children were exhibited all week and it was wonderful to stand along side and answer questions and give more information about the project and the children at St. Clares.  Later in the week Julie and I gave a workshop outlining the project with the hope of helping delegates create similar projects in their own or other countries.  There was a lot of enthusiasm about the project, and it was a great opportunity to discuss it with an international group.

All in all it was a truly inspiring experience.  The congress had an air of hope around it (and after all, "Tumaini" means hope!)  It was wonderful to meet other delegates working and living in Kisumu, to hear about other potential project ideas, and most of all to see the incredibly positive reaction to the photographs by the children.

All for now,

Alyssa

And the show begins!

We're back in Canada now, and missing our friends in Africa.

However, there is no shortage of things to do here!  So not much has changed in that regard.

On Wed, Alyssa is teaching a workshop at the World Youth Congress, discussing how to go about a project like ours.  She will be showing some of the photos, and discussing the hows and whats for people to be able to implement such a project themselves.

And Paul has been busy organizing our first exhibit in Ottawa.  Here's the first press release by the Department of Foreign Affairs who will be hosting the show in October.

We know you are all anxious to see the photos that the kids have taken.  And all I can say is, you should be!!  It's an excellent show, and we are extremely excited to share it with you.

Piga Picha Party!!!

Can I tell you a secret?
I'm relieved that yesterday is over!
So much planning and so much work went into our community party, and I'm really happy to say that it went off beautifully!!

In order to get people to come, we decided to make flyers and hand them out to people passing in the street. Here are some of the children watching the excitement from the orphanage gate, underneath our party banner.


At 11am, the festivities began! We had football (soccer), facepainting, crown-making and balloons.
Surrounding the property, the show was on display. We had easels made that we painted, which showcased two images per board. The show is called, 'Pieces of Innocence', and will be coming to a gallery near you in the coming months.




To keep the day flowing, we had excellent facilitators. They MC'ed, led dance competitions, brought rappers, and entertained for hours.


One of the most important things the facilitators did, was break our guests up into groups and discussed issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, orphans and the relationship between them all.
Our hope was for this dialogue to bring St. Clare's orphanage into their local radar, and also to bring their own personal sense of responsibility to the forefront of their minds.
Our only hurdle yesterday was that lunch was very late. Late, even for African time! However, eventually the pilau did arrive, and all the children squished tight together in a single file line to get their meal.


At the end of the day, our guest of honour, Wendy Muckle (who had just arrived from Canada that morning) , gave a brief speech honouring the photographers and the importance of the work they are doing.

She also handed out the certificates of completion that we gave each student in our Piga Picha program.




And suddenly, that was it. The end of our session here. Words cannot describe how hard it was to say goodbye to our new friends, who we have grown to love enormously. Watching them pack themselves into the van for the last time before driving away was heartbreaking.

It might be the end of this program, but it is never goodbye.