AHECHA PARAGUAY

I think I have already done a post about ahecha, but to recap, ahecha is a photography project through an organization called COCUMU (Compartiendo Cultura Mundial-- sharing culture throughout the world) which is completely funded and organized by a group of Peace Corps volunteers in Paraguay. They have camera kits of 5 digital cameras that they loan to volunteers for a two month period, in which the volunteer does a photography workshop, usually with 5 (1 student to a camera) or 10 students (2 to a camera).

I started out with 10 eighth grade students and ended up with 4 girls that completed the course and were truly interested in the project. So it worked out perfectly in my opinion :) To give you an idea, these girls do not have cameras in their home and the first class was how to turn on the camera, how to zoom and how to take a picture. They were TRULY starting from scratch and it was really awesome to see their progress.

I started the first couple classes by giving them a couple activities to get them to start thinking outside of the box, which is unfortunately something that they don't often get a chance to do in the Paraguayan education system. We analyzed photos and discussed what aspects we liked about each photo and what aspects we thought could have been improved. I sent them home with a photo and they had to make up a story to go along with the picture. When I finally gave them the cameras on the third class, we went over the parts of the camera and each week I would give them one aspect of photography to focus on, such as lighting, perspective, etc. The first photos I got back were not creative at all and were mostly them and their friends arm in arm smiling for the camera, but as we discussed their photos week by week and I showed them some famous photos the progression was rapid and after two months they had some awesome photos for the photo exhibit that we held on the "day of paraguayan myths" in the school. Here are a couple of my favorites.












Here are some photos of the girls in action!!






Here is the preparation and finale:













Giving out Certificates for completion of the course with the principal of the school:

Spring Flowers in Paraguay

I will never stop appreciating the beautiful flowers here in paraguay. They are everywhere and one day i decided to take pictures. These are all located in my neighbor's yard. Enjoy Mom!!

Long-Field Training in Altos!

My sister G (training group) arrived in June and as part of their training 5 of the trainees came to visit me and stay with families in Altos for 5 days. They helped me with my English and Photography classes and with the library and meetings that we had with the library committee. Then we ended the week with two days of activities about civic education with kids from Pirayu the first day and Altos the second day. They are a great group of trainees and I know they will make great volunteers and I hope to work with them on other projects in the future!

Here are some pictures from the week!





These were pictures that we took after the photography class we did a mini-excursion to practice the techniques that we talked about in the class.


This picture was taken during the english class, the trainees prepared a fun memory game that the kids seemed to enjoy where they had to match the picture with the word in English.



The icebreaker that we did before starting the library committee meeting. What would your ideal library be like?





From the old train station in Pirayu. I still don't understand why they shut it down, I would sooo prefer traveling on train than on bus.



The plan for the "history and culture corner" drawn by the trainees. Awesome!!



We did activities about civic education with kids in the library.


Day trip to Atyra! Some of the group climbed up to the clock tower.


Sundial. I think it was 11:30 but the only part I understand is that my hands are close to the number 11...hm....