Global Reporting’s *Kuwala picture project illustrate UNDP report
UNDP:s 2007 Zambia Human Development Report is illustrated with pictures taken by children from some of Lusaka’s poorest neighbourhoods who who participated in a pilot project run by Global Reporting and their Zambian partners Youth Vision and Back to School. The project name Kuwala is Chewa, one of the about twenty distinct languages in Zambia, and means to shine or to stand out.
After a workshop on how to take photo’s the teenagers were given disposable cameras and told to go out and take pictures of their life. The aim of the project is to provide children and youths with skills to conceptualize their life and problems through photography, in particular, to help them deal with problems related to HIV and AIDS. Some of the best Kuwala photos were selected to illustrate the UNDP report. The pictures include images of HIV and AIDS, poverty and despair but also images of play and happiness. All photos are accompanied with a caption where the photographer describes in his or her own words what the photo is about.
In November 2006 more than 50 of the *Kuwala photo's were exhibited at Lusaka National Museum. During the inauguration the teenagers sang and discussed issues related to them and their life. They were again exhibited in relation to the World AIDS Day, on December 2006.
The photo’s are also published in the Global Reporting publication, Meanwhile, Back in Zambia, which came out in December 2006.