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First prize in our 2008 photo competition was awarded to Skillshare International development worker Adam Musgrave for his striking image from the International Day for Persons with Disabilities celebrations. The event was held in Teya Teyaneng, Lesotho, in 2007 to raise awareness of the rights of disabled people. 

Skillshare International and our partner Lesotho National Federation of Organisations of the Disabled (LNFOD), the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Norwegian Association of the Disabled worked together to organise the event. “It was the most ambitious celebration of the anniversary in Lesotho’s history and the Prime Minister, the Queen and half of the country’s Cabinet attended”, says Adam. A procession of around 500 people with disabilities marched through the town centre singing, dancing and waving placards.  The march finished at the main site, where the Prime Minister spoke to a crowd of over 1,500 people and Her Majesty the Queen launched a photo exhibition about disability in Lesotho which was produced by LNFOD and Skillshare International. 

Adam, who has just finished his placement as an Advocacy Specialist at LNFOD, says, “I hope the photo managed to capture the atmosphere of the march – it had a real carnival feel but there was also a serious message behind the celebrations. It was amazing to see people with all kinds of disabilities coming together to celebrate their identity and demand their rights and the enthusiasm and passion of the people took a powerful message to the most influential politicians in the country.”

In March 2008, LNFOD and Skillshare International followed-up the demonstration by sending a joint open letter to the Prime Minister about the implementing a Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  The letter was signed by over 35 of the country’s leading organisations including human rights groups, international development agencies, trade unions and religious groups. In response, the Prime Minister established an inter-ministerial committee to take forward the implementation of the Convention, and committed to joining the Convention by the end of 2008.

Second prize was awarded to Skillshare International development worker Sarah Lee for her artistic photo of an artisan in Tamil Nadu, India.  Sarah works with nomadic Narikkuravar jewellery artisans to teach them about the importance of entrepreneurship, marketing, and developing high quality products for new markets. 

“The artisans didn’t take into account all their overheads such as travel and electricity so they struggled to make profits”, says Sarah.  “With the jewellery redesigned, with added value and high quality, they will now be able to charge a higher rate, ultimately providing them with economic empowerment and keep their traditional craft alive.”

The photo was taken at a photo shoot of new designs.  Sarah says, “Narikkuravar people are full of life and energy and I’ve never met a louder and funnier group of people!  This photo to me sums up their energy and my frustrations at trying to get the perfect photo for their product catalogue!”

 
As a result of the training ‘Chidiya’ (meaning jewellery in Narikkuravar language) was established as a new business enterprise for the artisans.  Using what they learnt during the training course the artisans are currently developing new jewellery products ready for buyers Sarah has linked them with in India.  They also hope to begin exporting the jewellery and Chidiya products will be available to buy from Sarah over Christmas (sarah_lee83@hotmail.com). They are hoping to launch their new website soon at www.chidiya.org.

“I’ve never played football”, said the president of the association excitedly, “I think this will be a great thing for all the girls”.

Third prize was awarded to Sheylan Yearsley, our Coaching for Hope Coordinator in Mali, for her photo of a member of the Association Benkadi playing football for the first time.  Association Benkadi is a women’s cooperative based near Bamako that is working to combat the vulnerable role of women in Malian culture. 

Using football to build life skills and raise awareness of HIV and AIDS, our Coaching for Hope programme helps women to challenge social stereotypes and engage in positive community actions through teamwork and mutual support.  The photo was taken at an afternoon football training session with all the women of the association and many girls from the community. 

With hundreds of young people from the community looking on, women of all generations touched a football for the first time in their lives.  Mothers, daughters and grandmothers shouted with joy and encouragement as their teams competed.

Speaking about the photo, Sheylan says, “taking photographs and writing is my way of making sense of the world around me.  While I spend most of my day in front of a computer working on programming and budgets, the moments I get out into the field make everything I do worth it”.

This page was updated on 28th November 2008