Photographer : Adrianne Bonafede
Hello! My name is Adrianne and I’m writing a bit about the action I did while working as an ActNow intern the past 12 weeks. My action relates to volunteering with young children. More specifically, helping young refugees in Australia.
I knew right off that I wanted my action to be something where I could work with young kids, but making all that happen was fairly difficult to arrange in the short time I had. It took a while to refine what I actually wanted to do. And how I could maybe integrate my skills as a photographer into the action.
Thankfully, I came across the opportunity to apply as a volunteer with an organisation called ALIV, the Australian League of Immigration Volunteers. I found about this program in conversation with my supervisor at work, and that opened the door for me to volunteer. I accepted right away.
Why young refugees?
Well, I became aware of the issue of refugees in Australia after reading about it on the ActNow website, and it was something that left an impression on me after digging deeper into it.
I’ve always had a heart for young kids, I absolutely love them…and, I also know that one of my goals as a photographer is to tell a story through pictures as an outlet of helping those that are underprivileged, whose stories might not be seen otherwise. I believe the visual impact of photography has a tremendous impact on storytelling and might give others cause to take action on similar issues.
The ACTION part...
While my photographs of young refugees at a recent art exhibition don’t necessarily illustrate a personal struggle or victory of any one person, they do signify the broader issue and dedication of those helping make things easier. The images show the hard work and sense of accomplishment among several of the young people involved with ALIV, reflecting on the activities and art ALIV provides for them.
So, what I did was offered my services as a photographer the night of the Refugee Art Exhibition held at Pitt Street Church in Sydney…you can check out the gallery I put up. Now ALIV has the opportunity to use my photographs of the night not only to share them with the children, but also to use in any sort of promotion for the organisation.
It felt really cool to make a small, but direct contribution to this organisation and hopefully the broader issue. I can imagine that the kids will be really excited to see pictures of themselves at an event that meant a great deal to them. If I could spend more time volunteering with them before I travel back home to the United States, I really would, because one night is far too brief.
Some of the things I did to get me going:
- Networked and asked around for volunteer opportunities
- Researched organisations on the Internet
- Filled out a volunteer application with ALIV
- Waited to hear back (this part took forever)…
- So, I called and emailed to let them know what I could do
- Then we decided the art exhibition would be a really cool way for me to help.
A little somethin’ somethin’ I learned about taking action…
It doesn’t have to be anything huge! Simple things make big differences. I sort of thought I needed to plan something really extensive that could reach lots of people, but I didn’t have enough time do that. I realised half way through that I had been taking action on other things without even knowing it. Like my health action…I’ve been teaching cycling classes at my uni gym during my semester abroad, and without realising it, I encouraged about five new people to join the gym. I know this because a few weeks later, the people I had talked to were showing up to my classes! I thought that was really cool, because for some of them, this was their first time beginning a workout regime and sticking to it. All it took was sharing with them why I believe physical fitness is important for physical and emotional well-being, and getting them pumped about having fun while working out too!
