One Bird builds upon the success of The New Orleans Kid Camera Project, which addresses the emotional and psychological impacts of Hurricane Katrina on youth returning home to New Orleans. This project, created in the fall of 2005, teaches participants tangible artistic and technical skills; providing young people a forum with which to express themselves to an international audience. Our work with
kids in New Orleans consistently proves the power of our approach. The very act of creating is empowering and exciting, especially for people who have limited access to artistic tools. Documenting their experiences, and writing on a weekly basis allows participants to share their stories and express themselves. In 2008 One Bird co-founders, Joanna Rosenthal and Ariya Martin, conducted a three week photography program for Tibetan refugees living in Dharamshala, India- the Tibetan Community Camera Project. As with Post-Katrina New Orleans, Dharmsala is home to a displaced community struggling to preserve its identity and culture. One Bird partnered with Louisiana Himalaya Association and Tibetan Children’s Village Day School to offer two classes a day (one for kids age 8-11 and one for adults 18 and older). Participants learned basic digital camera functions as well as the elements of photographic composition. Each of them were able to capture their daily lives through photographs and share their thoughts through writing. In the summer of 2012, One Bird co-founders Ariya Martin and Tara Malik, in partnership with the Haitian Association for Human Development and Mejham, traveled to Haiti for the second international One Bird program. Alongside photographer and educator, Aubrey Edwards, One Bird worked with 56 students, ages 10-16. The workshops took place at Picardo school and Splendeur, a Save the Children funded school, both in the Carrefour area of Port-Au-Prince called Riviere Froide. This neighborhood is the childhood home of Haitian Association President and University of New Orleans Professor Yvelyne Germain McCarthy. In following with the One Bird mission of partnering with existing community programs, One Bird was guided by Prof. Germain McCarthy in establishing a partnership with a local youth empowerment organization, Mejham to encourage community investment and program sustainability. Participants used Canon Rebel DSLRs and Flip video cameras to document the area around the school and take portraits of one another. Each student reflected on their photographs and experiences in their own handmade journals and attended a field trip to MUPANAH (Musee du Pantheon National Haitien) and Pquet beach, a first time trip for the majority of students. Their artwork and accomplishments were celebrated at a closing ceremony with family and community members, which included student performances and a graduation ceremony, where each of the 56 students and 6 translators received a One Bird photography certificate. One Bird will return to Haiti in the summer of 2013 to continue the Riviere Froide Kid Camera Project.
