The Center for the Arts, Port au Prince is a place for young girls in Haiti to
learn about the arts, become empowered through the arts and to generate income through their activities in the arts.
The idea for this project came about shortly before the second anniversary of the earthquake of January 12, 2010. I had been working in Haiti every few months, since the earthquake, specifically focused on photographing adolescent girls, as well as teaching photography to girls living in camps for internally displaced people.
In working with these girls I came to see their incredible thirst for knowledge and their innate ability to absorb the idea of self-expression. The photographs that they took were awe-inspiring and I discovered that all these girls needed was someone to hold out a hand and offer them a chance to experience something that young people in many parts of the world take for granted, the arts.
What many young people in Haiti need is income, jobs and a way to feed their families. This project grew out of a desire to incorporate a way to create income generating activities in the arts. The Center is a place for girls to learn about the arts, be it photography or sewing and through their activities in the arts, produce work that can be sold, thereby creating income.
It is located in Port au Prince, and draws girls from a community called Silo, which is home to more than 20,000 people. Homes are still to this date, more than 9 years after the earthquake tents and tarps strewn throughout rubble and dirt. It is always blistering hot and life is a daily struggle and a challenge far beyond what we consider a struggle in the Western world.
In the midst of so much uncertainty in the landscape of post-earthquake Haiti, hilltops of tents that blacken at night, with only the sounds of peoples voices emanating in the darkness; I believe that if I have the ability to affect the life of just one person or the lives of just a few young girls in Haiti today, then my time, my money and my resources have been well spent.
Your support is welcome in whichever way you can offer it. If you are able to make a financial donation, I would be most appreciative. If your donation is in the form of materials, that too is welcome. Every donation is making a difference.
I invite you to join me in Haiti, to meet the girls and to see what we are making happen.
Nadia Todres