The Italian charity association Link for Aid, with the photographer Francesca Moscheni and four leading Myanmar companies (Samsung, Sule Shangri-La, Asian Trails and Red Dot) have joined forces for a book that will capture the essence of Yangon, one of Asia’s most alluring and vibrant cities, seen through the eyes of deaf children for whom it is a silent city. “With this book we want to show that the language of images can communicate and generate emotions as well or even better than the spoken word. We are asking eight deaf children to reveal their hidden potential and talents through photography which is a new medium for them,” says Pamela McCourt Francescone, Founder Link for Aid.
The book with texts and colour photographs will be published in Myanmar later this year and distributed internationally and together with a documentary which will be made about the children’s week shooting the photos for the book is part of Link for Aid’s project “The Sound of Images.”
“Thanks to Samsung we have the latest technology and for the boys and girls, aged 12 to 15 from the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf, this will be an exciting human and professional challenge. Using smartphones, and their sensitivity to all things visual, they will spend Easter Week taking photos around the city under the expert guidance of Francesca Moscheni, who will also give them daily lessons in photography,” says Pamela McCourt Francescone, Founder Link for Aid.
“The lessons are to stimulate the children to look at the world with new eyes. I want to leave them as free as possible to discover the reality of what they are seeing, and to take photos of Yangon from many different angles. Filmmaker Marco Armando Piccinini will also be with us and together we will produce the documentary on this extraordinary experience which we will bring to the most important international documentary Film Festivals,” says Francesca Moscheni. “Sule Shangri-La has been part of Yangon for over 20 years and we are always looking for ways to make improvements in our community. Silent Yangon is a perfect platform for us -we are very excited about the photos that these kids will produce during this weeklong activity,” says Phillip Couvaras, Sule Shangri-La, Yangon General Manager. Samsung, which will provide the smartphones, is organizing a training course for the children in its Yangon headquarters, and one of the team will accompany them and provide technical support during the week of the shooting. “At Samsung, we always believe that everyone has the right to enjoy our innovations and technology equally. We are much pleased and happy to support this unique project that helps the young kids to access our best-in-class camera technology and learn the interesting skills of photography,” says Soe Thura, Public Relations and Citizenship Manager at Samsung Myanmar.
The children from the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf in Dagon Township which has 350 students were selected by a committee under the school’s Principal Nyunt Nyunt Thein. She said, “We gave this opportunity to eight children who are particularly gifted in art and have won prizes for it. Link for Aid has been a sponsor of training projects for our students for some time now and we are delighted to be part of this photography project.”
Link for Aid, founded by Irish travel journalist Pamela McCourt Francescone in 2012, is an independent, non-proft charity registered in Rome, Italy. It raises funds online and by organizing charity events to alleviate poverty and hunger, and to bring dignity and selfreliance to the lives of underprivileged, deft and orphaned children in Myanmar and Cambodia.
