In my experience as a photographer, I have worked with NGOs in 16 countries in Latin America. The majority of these organizations do humanitarian projects with children in diverse areas such as human rights, health and migration.
The children they assist have suffered seriously in their lives, for which reason it is crucial to act with great sensitivity around them. Most recently I took photographs for Rancho Sordo Mudo, a free residential school for deaf children in Baja California, Mexico.
Working with the children of Rancho Sordo Mudo gave me personal experience on being unable to communicate with others. In other places I have been, even when working with children who didn’t speak my language, laughter and gestures allowed me to develop a relationship with them.
Here, for the first time, I felt helplessness because I could not express myself to them. I experienced the isolation felt by deaf children without the prospect of learning sign language.
Most children with hearing problems and poor language skills in Mexico are marginalized and do not have the opportunity to learn sign language, much less to receive a basic education. That is why I believe that the work of Rancho Sordo Mudo is so important.
Some of its students come from as far away as the Guatemalan border. As one of few Mexican schools for the deaf, Rancho Sordo Mudo is very special because it offers children the opportunity to integrate into society.
Rancho Sordo Mudo
Alex Espinosa
No comments:
Post a Comment