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Kent Meridian Photovoice Exhibit Tells Unique Story

By June 6, 2016July 16th, 2018No Comments

On Thursday, June 2, tucked away in a quiet corner of the East Wing at Kent Meridian High School, a group of students gathered to show off a lot of hard work they’ve been doing for the last few months – telling their story through pictures.

Since March, Food Lifeline has been working in partnership with Coalition for Refugees from Burma Youth Education Program participants, meeting once a week for a series of classes on photography and writing. All of the students have resettled from a number of different countries including Burma, Afghanistan, and Rwanda, participating in programs supported by the federal Refugee School Impact Grant program (RSIG).

Students were tasked with taking photographs of how they and their community interact with food and to bring them back to the group to discuss the current strengths, challenges, and identify opportunities for moving forward.

After several weeks of photographs, conversations, writing, the students picked their final photos and wrote their final captions to display. The exhibition provided an opportunity for them to share their hard work with friends and family, but also a chance to lift up their voices and influence decisions that affect their day to day lives.

Event attendees included representatives from several local organizations including the Kent School District including school board members, the City of Kent including Mayor Suzette Cooke, Highline College, the Living Well Kent Coalition, Sea Mar Community Health Centers, and Public Health Seattle and King County.

Next, the photo boards will be displayed in the meeting room at the Kent branch of the King County Library System. Visit the Kent Meridian Photovoice Project facebook page to see the find the latest information about the display, and to see some of the photos.