'A Child's Eye': Children portray their hopes, fears

'A Child's Eye': Children portray their hopes, fears

Bambang Bider, The Jakarta Post, Pontianak, West Kalimantan

"Thank you for making our children laugh again with this
beautiful coming together," said Buchari Arachman.

Buchari is the municipality head of Pontianak. He was
addressing a ceremony to mark the launch of A Child's Eye:
Indonesia Through the Eye of a Child, a book of photographs.

Campaigns for peace and reconciliation have been intensive in
West Kalimantan, a province often torn by ethnic conflict
involving the Dayak, Malay and Madurese ethnic groups.

The violence and cruelty during the conflicts were often hard
to describe because they went beyond the limits of humanity.
Regardless of their ethnicity, children in the area have become
victims of disharmony.

In a bid to help the children come to terms with their
experiences the Jakarta-based Child's Eye Foundation has provided
a workshop for the children to explore their dark past and
hopefully bring out a more promising future.

The workshop also documents their lives in photo. Some of
their work reflects their hopes and worries about the future.

The foundation's art director, Jonathan Perugia, said, "This
program is to help the children explore and recount their own
stories through photography, writing and discussion. We also hope
to raise their self-esteem and help to foster solidarity and
friendly relations between children who come from differing
environments, particularly those from conflict-ridden areas."

"I am a self-made photographer, I have benefited considerably
from my search for creative identity. That's why I really want to
share what I experienced in my search," the British photographer
said.

Sixty-two Sambas children from different ethnic groups --
Chinese, Dayak, Malay and Madurese -- and those from refugee
camps, participated in two workshops held respectively in
Pontianak and Singkawang.

Three exhibitions have been organized to display the output
from these workshops. The first was held at Pontianak Museum to
observe the International Year of the Convention on Children's
Rights. The second and the third were held respectively in
Singkawang and Jakarta. Over 5,000 people, including hundreds of
school children, attended the exhibitions.

"In this respect, we have a picture of the strength of our
creativity. We can also motivate, respect and support one
another. The exhibitions also help foster mutual trust among us.
The participants were encouraged to realize that their opinions
were worth listening to," said Perugia.

The children and teenagers, aged from 10 to 18, who took part
in the workshops, produced photographs imbued with life, spirit,
joy and merriment, as well as touching scenes. Some have even
suggested that these photographs need to be criticized and
censored. The reality in these photographs sometimes causes a
feeling of discomfort in the beholder.

The naivete reflected in the photographs tells a story about
the children's lives and illustrates the problems they face. In
short, these pictures are a very powerful social document.

A Child's Eye believes that mental awareness and the self-
respect of each individual are the first things that must be
developed to ensure that social justice can eventually be at
tained.

In each workshop the children are involved in games designed
to provide them with practical knowledge about photography. When
they return home after their training, they can take pictures of
anything that interests them with their plastic cameras.

Every week they get together and submit their work. In this
meeting they learn more about photography from professional
photographers.

"We also discuss and study their rights and other matters of
importance to children. They are free to express themselves
naturally and innocently, without any orchestration or coercion,"
Perugia said.

In terms of creativity and art, these photographs excel in
quality. However, when art alone does not suffice, we must all
play an active role in supporting national and international
pledges to fight poverty and find new ways to resolve conflicts
and ensure that the rights of children all over the world are
respected.