Only Art will save us

Witnesses to Hunger is about participation and action.

Through a technique called “Photovoices,” Witnesses to Hunger provided digital cameras to more than 40 women who have young children in Philadelphia and recorded their stories about these photos. Their focus? The experience of hunger and poverty, their ideas for change.

All too often, policies and programs are created without the participation of the people who are most affected. Who better to speak on poverty and maternal and child health than mothers of young children? They are the true experts.

These mothers are opening themselves to the world. The result is intimate, moving, disturbing. Without pretense or self-censorship, these moms focused their lenses on their children, their neighborhood, their grind at work or on Welfare. Every frame illustrates how policy makers under-estimate or simply don’t fully understand what it’s like to be poor – and what it’s like to know that your children are.

These women are, for all practical measure, teachers with invaluable lessons to impart. Each of us is invited to look and listen for their guidance.

http://www.witnessestohunger.org/