A Vision to Keep

Photograph by David Jiranek

One year after its founder’s death, an effort known as Through the Eyes of Children: The Rwanda Project continues.

David Jiranek started the program in 2000 to teach children who were orphaned in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide to express themselves through photography. A former Broadway producer, Mr. Jiranek traveled to Rwanda after reading a magazine story that detailed the horrors of the genocide. On his first trip there, he noticed that adults he encountered shied away from being photographed, while children were intrigued by his camera.

Mr. Jiranek returned a year later armed with disposable cameras, and he began to teach photography to the children at Imbabazi Orphanage, which opened in 1994 and is run by Rosamond Carr, a 92-year-old American expatriate and children’s advocate.

The children’s photos have been exhibited around the world, and the project was featured on ABC’s evening-news show. Money raised through the sale of prints goes toward the children’s educations.

In August 2003, as Mr. Jiranek was preparing exhibits and other events to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the genocide, he died in a swimming accident. Since his death, family members and friends have taken over the project.

“David wanted these kids to be heard,” says Joanne McKinney, a friend who is now one of the project’s coordinators. “He wanted to empower them, to give them work, and to tell the story of Rwanda. We are keeping David’s vision alive.”

The Rwanda Project is still a grass-roots effort, with no annual budget, Ms. McKinney says. It is one of several programs that operate through Perception, an international charity in New Mexico that promotes cultural diversity. Most of the people involved with the project are volunteers who donate time and materials. To date, the project has raised $60,000, half of which came from donations in Mr. Jiranek’s memory.

Still, Ms. McKinney remains optimistic. “It’s been a pretty organic process so far,” she says. “Could this project be in Baghdad in the future? Absolutely.”

Here, in a photo taken by Mr. Jiranek, one of his students prepares to take a snapshot of his teacher.