Photo by Edwin A. Retrato
“Our Silent World” is an exhibition of photographs taken by 15 deaf children on Ometepe Island through a project jointly sponsored by the Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Islands Association and the Bainbridge Island Photo Club. The project gave these children the opportunity to express themselves creatively on both islands
Jose Santos’ family and their cat
In January 2015, a group of 12 Sister Islands delegates carried to Ometepe 15 new digital cameras, generously donated by members of the photo club for use by the children. The delegates met with the children for a few hours one morning and loaned each of them a camera. With the assistance of a local Nicaraguan Sign Language interpreter, they explained the project and taught the students how to use the cameras. The instructions they were given were simple: Tell us your story, show us your friends, your family, your island and your lives.
After a week of taking photos in their local communities, the children met again with the delegates, who downloaded the pictures and brought them back to Bainbridge. Members of the photo club printed the images and prepared them for exhibitions on Bainbridge and in Nicaragua. When the exhibitions are over with the photos will be returned to the children to keep.