SWAMPSCOTT — Swampscott High School students are helping African students document their lives to help American students learn more about the country of Burkina Faso.
Peace Sarambe, an English teacher from high school Lycee Communal de Fada, met with members of the InterACT club at the high school Thursday afternoon to accept 15 digital cameras to mark the culmination of the club’s fundraising efforts to send the cameras to the school in the west African nation so the students there can document their lives through the photos.
The donation marked a collaborative effort by the club, the Greater Lynn Photographic Association and Hunt Photography, to give the cameras to the BARKA Foundation, which according to www.barkafourndation.org is a grassroots organization focused on sustainable development in Burkina Faso.
“The idea was to give more than just financial aid to the BARKA Foundation,” said Victoria Bauder, InterACT club member who came up with the idea to donate the cameras. “We wanted to not only illustrate our impact on BARKA, but to help students capture moments with their families, too.”
The club will hold an art show with the photos that Sarambe sends back to Swampscott. When asked by Sarambe what kind of photos they wanted to see, club members asked for aspects of culture, music, art, food and nature as well as family portraits. Sarambe said he would try to send at least a dozen photos back by mid-May for the art show.
Greater Lynn Photographic Association’s Rick Cloran asked for Sarambe to tell a story with the images.
“Take the cameras and build a story to introduce us to your people,” he said. “Educate us so we can have an understanding and build a better dialogue.”
Esu Anahata, a cofounder of the Barka Foundation, said the InterACT Club’s project “has shown us how a high school can raise awareness in your own community and raise awareness for Fada.”
Sarambe said he is hoping to continue projects that connect the two high schools, even suggesting an exchange program in the future. He talked with the French language teachers about making a blog or letter-writing for the students to keep contact.
“We hope this will be just a beginning of so many other projects. I would like to have a real bridge between this school and other schools in Fada,” he said of his city in the eastern part of the country. “This project is already good to start with.”
Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected]
