Explain to me how photography can help build peace:

Two nights ago our team had a meeting with the Burundian Minister of Youth and Sport. Having worked with Burundian government officials before (I was a Human Rights Officer with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Burundi from 2005-2006), I wasn’t sure what to expect. Our hope was to simply drop off a letter asking for permission to hold our photography exhibit at the National Palace of Art and Culture. Although it was already dark outside and he was clearly busy, the Minister gave us half an hour of his time. As an obvious proponent of youth, he was very curious to understand how photography could help build peace between different groups and somehow lead to large-scale reconciliation.

Kyle, Joseph, and Kate with the Burundian Minister of Youth and Sport

I proceed to explain how I see it… These truly vulnerable young people need no longer be seen as victims. In fact, they are equal participants in their history and therefore need to be enabled to affect a larger pattern change in their society and have their vision and needs equally represented in formal decision-making bodies. Unfortunately, too often these young people are overlooked in programming and continue to lack healthy outlets to get to know each other and connect with those elements of trauma and violence that have shaped their identities. They need skills, exposure, and belief in themselves. They need to understand that conflict will always be there, waiting to be released in some way. Youth – and I would argue adults too – need to see that moment in which we engage conflict as a creative moment. It is a moment of opportunity. Depending on how we understand and deal with it, conflict can be a springboard for positive transformation or it can be a plank we walk only to submerge ourselves in untold injury and, sometimes, violence. Photography provides a pause. It provides countless powerful lessons that we may apply to conflict situations. With a photo or a conflict, we learn how to frame and re-frame a subject or an issue. We learn that my perspective may not be yours, and vice versa. We learn that there is a short lens and a longer lens with which we can look at anything, both in terms of our time horizon and our point of focus. It teaches us that there is a relationship between the viewer, the subject, and the storyteller (the photographer). In life, we play all three roles at one time or another. Photography enables the individual voice, without subsuming the shared narrative. Participants in our collaborative photography workshops all start at the same point, and as equals build solidarity through crafting and articulating their story and breaking down stereotypes of the “other” in their society. I see photography as capable of making a visual and creative addition to an organic truth telling process. In this post-violence context (and I don’t say “post-conflict” for good reason), art in and of itself has healing power.

If we go deeper, we learn that life and everything in it is ultimately unknowable. Art is capable of stepping beyond language, and I would argue culture, and giving us a glimpse into a side of life we often overlook or fail to awaken. Few would argue that any group holds more hope than young people.

And on it went… And as we continued to explain, the Minister began to ask more questions and give more suggestions to make our program even stronger.

Eric, Minister Jean-Jacques, Kyle, and Joseph

Earlier today I found out that our request was approved.

If for some reason you are near Bujumbura on the evening of August 20, I invite you to attend our celebration and photo exhibit at the Burundian Palace of Art and Culture.

Nadia, Kate, Joseph, Davy-Carmel, and Kyle working hard to prepare for our workshop