The following excerpt is from a March 30, 2010 article about our friends at Fotokids, published by The Comment Factory. To read the article in its entirety, please click here.
This article was written by Ana Caistor-Arendar, who lives in – and writes about – Latin America. To read more articles by Ana, please click here.
Ten-year-old Diego lives beside the train tracks in the centre of Guatemala City. He has two older brothers, who belong to rival gangs. A year ago one of Diego’s brothers was shot in the stomach by a member of the other brother’s gang.
Diego is not in a gang. He had been taking lessons in photography at Fotokids, an organisation that attempts to bring young people in Guatemala out of poverty by providing training in the visual arts. He had dropped out of the organisation, claiming it was too much hard work, but returned shortly after he left.
“He came in one day and said to me, ‘I’ve been thinking about it, this is a really good project, would you accept me back?’,” recollects Nancy McGirr, who founded the organisation 18 years ago. “He is now here every other day in the morning, without fail, and not only is he doing his work but he is enthusiastically involving himself.” …
Click here to read the rest of the article.
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