Photo Voice

An MA student, Jennifer Thompson from McGill University, Canada, came to Tiwai Island for the first time in November 2008. Her plan was to go to eight host communities to first introduce the idea of Photo Voice to see if anyone would like to take part in the project.

She explained that she would come to each community for a day, show the group chosen by the community, for the project, how to use digital cameras. These cameras had been donated to her. The groups consisted of two elders, one female, one male and two youths (one female, one male). She asked the question ‘What do you want to conserve for the future for your children and their children?’

Each participant was asked to take four photographs to answer this question.

Photo-Voice is a way of doing research that is:

• Qualitative
• Arts-based - using photography
• Visual – Can engage a wider audience
• Participatory - Participants take pictures to represent their own lives
• Action-based Research – An intervention for social change that encourages local ownership, and critical reflection in the research process
• A way of hearing voices that are not often heard

First Aid Training

First Aid Training was held on the island from 13th – 14th November. Two members from each community (one male, one female) and all the Tiwai staff attended the two-day training. It was conducted by Helen Legg, a fully qualified nurse from the UK. She had been working in Moyamba Government Hospital for six months. The workshop was designed to be very hands on and everything was learnt through practical demonstration.