FINDING HEALING through

Photo
voice

Eleison Photovoice
Their stories,
their words

Photovoice is a community-based participatory research method in which survivors use photography to define their experiences on their own terms. Survivors take photographs to share their stories, collaborate with researchers on all aspects of the research process, and use study findings to bring about social change.

In our photovoice research, survivors take leadership roles in the research. Survivors collect data, analyze data themselves, and share findings with the community. Through photovoice, survivors’ voices are heard on their own terms.

PHOTOVOICE PROCESS
Picture taking

Survivors take photographs in their environment.

Peer Sharing

Survivors share their photos and experiences with their peers.

ANALYZE DATA

Survivor leaders receive training on qualitative data analysis. They analyze data with help from the research team.

PEER FEEDBACK

Survivors present themes to their peers and get feedback from other survivors.

COMMUNITY EVENT

Survivors present findings in the community to create dialogue and social change.

Discover
their voices

Eleison Tire of life Photovoice
"Jennifer"
Theme: Overcoming hardships

"I chose a tire because there is similarity with my life. Why? This symbolizes the problems that I experienced in life. And the problems I experienced are like tires, sometimes down, sometimes up. This means that our problems are turning our lives. But it’s the problem that should surrender, not people, because problems have solutions. We should not stop to find solutions that will help solve our problems. Just like a tire. Even though it is tired to turn around and around on the road, it still does not stop because it is helping people to quicken the travel to places that they really want to go."

Eleison Old Bike
"Mark"
Theme: Achieving goals

"So the first picture I chose is the bicycle… For me the picture symbolizes how important the economic empowerment (is)… It (the bicycle) is less expensive than the other modes of transportation. And besides that, it gives health benefits to us. Even it runs slow, compared to others, but surely I can be able to come to my alternative, come to my destination safely… Like right now the traffic is really bad, so we need to have alternative ways that we can still pass towards wherever is our destination. And we can arrive on time where we want to go, safely. If you say you are economically empowered, you will not settle for just one thing. So we need to have another way for us to reach what we need to achieve – like our goals. So we have Plan A, Plan B, so if there is ever a barrier to this mode, we will still be able to go through or reach our goals."

Eleison Nature
"Scorpio"
Theme: Mental and emotional strength

"I am the breadwinner in the family. So what I do is I spend mostly for my family. Every now and then, if my mom needs money, I would send it. Instead of saving for myself, for my future, since I have no family yet because we know there will be times that I will also get married, I would spend it for them. My mistake at that time was that whenever my mother or my siblings asked for money, I would give it to them immediately, not leaving something for myself. What if I would marry? What if I would lose my job? My biggest lesson I realized is that it is not a mistake to help, but it is a mistake if you forget about yourself."

Eleison Stairs
"Cassie"
Theme: Bravery and self-confidence

"The first one that I have is stairs. This is the picture I chose because I know that this is one of the things that will improve life. In my own side, stairs symbolizes what I want to aim for in life. Though there are many problems that will come to our lives, we don’t have to be defeated by it because we know in ourselves that we can handle it, right? The stairs are step by step. If we won’t take the first step, we won’t make it to what we aim, no matter how much we fight our problems. Also the stairs will always be ready to receive you and allow you to take the steps. Most of us may feel rejected, that we are not worth it, but we are not really like that. If God sees us as his children, it is worth it to do the things we need to do … Through our hard work and giving value to ourselves, we will reach our goals for our family and especially for ourselves. We will finish the last step of the stairs. We will arrive with congratulations because we reached the top."

Eleison Umbrella Flower
"Jennifer"
Theme: Safety and protection

"Have you experienced a problem that you can say is the end of your life? Well, I have experienced it. I really thought hard about what thing would resemble the life I experienced. When I saw the umbrella, I saw the end result if I chose this. The umbrella helps people when it is raining or hot outside. It serves as their protection so they will not feel weak or they will not get sick. This is similar to myself because I need defense or protection to help me go on with life because the problems I experienced are so heavy and needed immediate defense, that is why I chose an umbrella as a defense. Even though you might think that this is not a tool for defense, at least it will help in times that I feel weakened due to problems. We give importance to the umbrella even though that is a simple thing, at least it can help us. I realized that everything in this world is valuable but a person may not notice if it is valuable."

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