Podcast: What’s Up Bainbridge:
Community Center hosts Ometepe Nicaragua photos

The Bainbridge Photography Club July 4th Exhibit will show 30 photos taken by 15 deaf children on Ometepe – the Bainbridge sister island in Nicaragua. In this podcast, Sue Barrington and Dale Spoor explain the background of the show.

This is one of many projects initiated by Dale Spoor after learning that there were no government programs on Nicaragua for hearing-impaired children.

Dale participated in the first delegation of the Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Islands Association (BOSIA) to Ometepe in 1988. Since then he has led a dozen trips and delegations over the years. Dale and his wife also facilitate Spanish classes at the Senior Center.

In January of this year a group of 12 BOSIA delegates carried to the island 15 new simple digital cameras donated by members of the BI Photo Club. They met with the children one morning. With the assistance of a local sign language interpreter, they taught them how to use the cameras. They gave them simple instructions for taking photos: tell us your story, show us your friends, your family, your island and your lives. The children spent a week in their local communities taking photos.

Members of the photo club have created an exhibition of 30 photos that will be shown in a number of venues here and in Nicaragua. The first exhibition will be at the Waterfront Park Community Center during the Fourth of July celebration as a part of the annual photography show there.

Brenda Berry, a BI professional photographer who was a member of the delegation created a 6-minute video that captures the essence of the experience of working with the deaf children on Ometepe in the photography project.

Credits: BCB host and editor: Joanna Pyle; BCB publisher: Barry Peters.