Giving voice to TwitterKids of Tanzania

When did I fall in love with Africa? Maybe it was when I was in first grade, and became so obsessed with the ancient pharaohs that I told everyone I was going to become an archaeologist and Egyptologist when I grew up.Maybe it was when I studied the continent in college, in my Academic Travel class. Or maybe it was I finally set foot on African soil, in October 2006. I went to Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, on a program sponsored by the university in Switzerland that I attended.My love grew during the two weeks that I traveled around with my classmates, driving over the glaringly white Botswanan salt pans or canoeing through the world’s largest inland delta.My devotion didn’t fade after I returned. I continued to check African news websites daily, to listen to music by African singers, to watch every movie and read every book I could get my hands on about my beloved continent.So intense was my love for Africa that I returned on my own less than a month after my program ended. And then I went back again, in October 2007 and March 2008.In May 2008, I graduated from the university and went to California to study photography. In early 2010, when it was time for me to move on from the photography school, I knew exactly where I wanted to go next: Africa. I packed my camera, a bag of T-shirts and a year’s supply of sunscreen and headed to the airport.The plane ticket in my hand had a final destination of Malawi, one of the countries I had explored during my travels.Malawi, nicknamed the “warm heart of Africa,” is a small country in the southeastern section of the continent, with a population of roughly 14 million.It was in Malawi that I planned to begin the mission I had traveled halfway around the world to accomplish. I wanted to change the perceptions that Westerners have of the continent that I love and of the people who live on it.My Swiss and American friends often reacted with horror or concern when I told them I was going off to Africa.I always assured them that, despite the stories they heard on the news, Africa is not one big war-torn, disease-ravaged, poverty-stricken mess. Certainly it has its problems, but there is more beauty to life here than most people will ever realize. My goal in coming here was to photograph Africa in a way it had rarely been photographed before — in a way that portrayed it as a beautiful place full of incredible people whose stories are not so different from those of us who live in Europe and North America. The stories and daily issues that connect us to each other are so much more universal than the superficial differences that separate us.I was going to photograph modern Malawi and show the rest of the world what my Africa looks like, the Africa that is full of smiles and rickety bicycles and handsewn colorful clothing.I worked on my project for the rest of 2010 and I’d like to think that the photos and the stories that I published in African and British travel magazines and on my blog (www.stefaniegiglio.wordpress.com) about my time there helped open a few eyes to the continent’s charm and appeal.Sending cameras to TanzaniaI am back home now, but my passion for Africa continues. I am a reporter now for The Millerton News, and of course take many of the photographs published in the paper. I am also now working on a project that combines my two greatest loves: photography and Africa. There is a group called the TwitterKids of Tanzania that is trying to accomplish what I tried to do myself during my travels. Through tweeting (on Twitter) and blogging on the Internet, a group of school children in Arusha, Tanzania, in East Africa is trying to change the world’s perception of their nation and their continent.They are now collecting cameras to help them with their work. I am trying to help them.Their dedicated school teacher, Mama Lucy Kamptoni, saw that her community was in great need of better education. She believes it will help lead her country out of poverty.So she began saving the money she earned through selling chickens so she could start her own school.When Mama Lucy realized that she needed to expand her school to serve more local students, she teamed up with an organization called Epic Change (www.epicchange.org).Shepherds Junior School serves more than 450 students in 10 grades and there are plans to expand it even further. The small campus is equipped with electricity and Internet and has its own library, the first one that students in the town have ever had access to.Classes are taught entirely in English, but the students also take a course in Swahili, their native language. In addition to traditional academic subjects, they discuss topics such as HIV/AIDS, gender equality, cultural issues and child labor.And they learn about the Internet and Twitter. Through the window of the worldwide web, they have a chance to interact with people from around the globe. They can share their stories and become part of the global conversation regarding subjects and events that are relevant and important to them.Through Twitter, they have been sharing their lives, hopes, dreams and thoughts about the world and their small corner of Tanzania.But since words can only express so much, the TwitterKids want to start sharing photographs as well.As a photographer and a proponent of giving a voice to everyone who wants to be heard, I am involved in a project now in which we are collecting cameras for the TwitterKids. The students are in need of gently used point-and-shoot digital cameras; memory cards; batteries; chargers; wires; and any other accessories that come with the cameras. All donations are tax deductable.The cameras are being collected by the North East Community Center in Millerton and can be delivered there during business hours (51 S. Center St.). In October, I will be attending the Epic Change conference in Amsterdam and will bring the cameras with me to present to the school. Feel free to also include a note to the TwitterKids.To see what the TwitterKids are up to or to chat with them, search the #TwitterKids hashtag conversation on Twitter (www.twitter.com), then use an @ reply. Connect with Mama Lucy Kamponi on Twitter: @MamaLucy.Learn more about Shepherds Junior School at www.shepherdsjr.wordpress.com.

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