Project Launch:

To encourage and promote young photographers, World Connect’s Kids to Kids program gave a $500 grant to AvenTuristas in 2009, which is a youth photography club in Los Chiles for kids between the ages of 10 and 16 years old. All of the participating kids live in extreme rural poverty and each child earned the right to participate in the project by maintaining excellent grades in school. None had ever used a camera before and with grant funding the kids received cameras, participated in a series of photography workshops, and were given the creative task of photographing the uniqueness of their community. Their photos were turned into postcards, which are now sold to tour groups that visit the community and the profits are being invested back into the photography club and the school, ensuring that youth in Los Chiles benefit for years to come. Peace Corps Volunteers throughout Costa Rica are replicating the project, and kids are seeing their communities for the first time through the lens of a camera and in the process, discovering a love for photography.