Lesley Abraham isn’t surprised when someone asks if she made a mistake in the title of the photo exhibit she’s helped organize for CHF, the NGO formerly known as the Canadian Hunger Foundation.
The third annual “What’s Right with This Picture?” gallery – which began a nationwide tour this month at Centretown’s Atomic Rooster restaurant – has people doing a double take.
According to Abraham, that’s the point.
This year, to celebrate CHF’s 50th anniversary, the photos included historic and modern examples of projects aimed at eliminating rural poverty in the developing world.
In the last half century, the Ottawa-based charity has evolved from promoting agriculture production to encouraging sustainable food systems. Founded by Mitchell Sharp in 1961, after his work with the Canadian Freedom from Hunger Campaign, CHF has started over 800 projects world-wide, in more than 40 developing countries.
Executive director Tony Breuer says that as countries have grown, poverty has changed.
“If we want to make a difference we have to realize there’s a new reality,” he said. “One needs to be a lot more holistic about it.”
The new method aims to see the strengths and potentials inherent in each community to help people help themselves, Breuer says.
The “What’s Right with This Picture” photo exhibit raises awareness with the public on this new approach.
Breuer adds that aid organizations often use images fraught with misery to garner donations, giving Canadians the wrong idea.
“People are not passive and helpless,” he says. “This is not a world of starving babies and handouts. But many are trapped in a situation beyond their control.”
The photographs in the gallery were taken by staff at CHF who found inspiring stories while working with community projects.
Kate Stanley, the lead Ottawa volunteer for CHF, has been involved with the exhibit since its inception and held a fundraiser to launch the gallery. More than 150 people came to the opening at the downtown bar.
Prints of the pictures and more than $1,000 in prizes donated from area businesses were auctioned off.
This year the event raised $1,400, an amount matched three to one by CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency. The total of $5,600 goes toward CHF’s Gifts That Matter program, which buys livestock and supplies to sustain communities.
Stanley says that the impact of this program hits home with one of her favourite photos in the exhibit. In it a young girl from Sri Lanka is smiling and holding a goat given to her through Gifts That Matter. The goat requires little upkeep and provides impoverished families with milk.
“It makes people feel like they can make a difference,” she says. “They can see the effects of their donations even before they donate.”
The pictures’ upbeat imagery has been getting a reaction, according to staff at the Atomic Rooster.
“A lot of people are surprised to see the smiles and the joy in these peoples’ faces,” server Lyndsay Fillier remarked. “It’s amazing to see how rich their lives are and how happy they are.”
Abraham says the gallery also encourages people to learn more.
“There’s something a bit different or shocking about seeing positive images of international development.” she said. “It’s a good way to reach people who might want to learn more who would not otherwise do so."
The photo exhibit was scheduled to show in Ottawa and Vancouver before wrapping up in Toronto this week.