I have visited the Ideas Partnership twice now, on July 6th and July 8th, to get things set up for my final. On the initial visit, I met with Burhan, who was one of the Newborns subjects in order to make connections at the center. Burhan was able to introduce me to one of the managers and several volunteers. At this first meeting, I explained my project and my goals. I came out of this meeting feeling very optimistic as I found out about a “girls’ group” that takes place on Saturdays at the center. The girls are all from RAE communities and many of them are not enrolled in public schools.
For my second visit, I had planned on going to this Saturday program to photograph and also meet with some of the girls to try and find a subject. One of our Kosovar friends, Asllan, came with me to translate (THANK YOU). I had a few technical and logistical issues that prevented me from shooting a lot, but I accomplished my main goal: find subjects.
The program is split into two classrooms, one with younger girls and one with older girls. I spent time in both but chose to talk to the older girls more. Three of the girls, Mirjeta, Vlora, and Semra, were very eager to answer questions and had interesting things to share. I am especially interested in working with Semra, as she wants to be a teacher and has already started helping out with the younger kids at the Ideas Partnership.