By Bob Koigi, Fair Planet, May 6, 2020
Growing up in Rwanda in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, 19 children out of several hundred living in the Imbabazi Orphanage were given the gift of learning photography with the U.S.-based nonprofit Through the Eyes of Children. Many of the children were just eight years old when the project began and had never ever seen a camera before.
The workshops were held over 11 years with the same children. The resulting photographs — which are believed to be the largest body of photographic work in Rwanda post-genocide created by survivors — have been exhibited throughout the world, including at the United Nations and at the New York and Los Angeles premieres of the movie Hotel Rwanda, the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, The Holocaust Museums of Houston, Texas, and Naples, Florida, and at several universities throughout the U.S. and in Europe.
Funds raised through the children’s photography helped to pay school fees for all of the children at the Imbabazi Orphanage, and proved to them that people value their perspective and were interested in seeing Rwanda through their eyes.
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