“Through the Eyes of” Really Cool Cleveland Kids
By Timothy M. McCue

Recently Saint Luke’s Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio initiated a project in conjunction with BROKAW and Center for Families and Children and West Side Ecumenical Ministry. Entitled “Through the Eyes of a Child,” the project started off as a creative way to obtain visuals for the Foundation’s annual meeting — a unique perspective of what it is like to be a child living in the most impoverished city in the country. Those images have taken on a life of their very own.

Similar to Cleveland’s very own Born Into Brothels project, area children who all participate in programming sponsored by the Center for Families and Children and West Side Ecumenical Ministry (WSEM) were each assigned a disposable camera and list of pictures to be taken. The picture assignments included: something you think is beautiful, something that makes you proud, your favorite toy, among others. The children had one week to take the snapshots of their everyday life.

Now, before I get to the results, let's talk about the children. From Center for Families and Children’s RapArt Center, the children, ages 4-12 participate in a variety of projects mostly focusing on dance or the arts under the direction of Colleen Clark. Through discussion and their photographic journal, these active minds were thrilled to share their wild array of interests; each and every member of the conglomerate of children are destined for success despite what the statistics may say. Michelle Wick of BROKAW, Inc. notes, “If these kids had to go into business now, they would be great paparazzi. They want to take pictures of everything and anything they see.” During the weeks I visited the children, they were preparing for a yoga recital. Having never done yoga myself, I was truly impressed by their limberness, agility, and focus. These children who had never heard of yoga displayed skills any yoga guru would be proud of, and students from Mather School participated, also. Mather School hosts children from toddler to school age before and after school, it also offers an all day program.

From West Side Ecumenical Ministry’s Teen Initiative program located at People’s Hope United Methodist Church, a group of twenty children took part in the program. With some assistance from Americorps, the program at People’s Hope is one of 8 such program offered by WSEM that offers a safe alternative for up to 50 children a day to participate in after school programming (2:30 PM-7:00 PM) ranging from arts and crafts, movies, and basketball. The day I visited, the kids could choose to attend a writing workshop presented by the YMCA or watch movies, play basketball, or pick up a camera for image-capturing.

Now, the results. Cameras turned in. Pictures developed. And while the children are not Ansel Adams, they did succeed in capturing several of the elemental themes and teaching us a few things along the way. The first thing learned—when you hand a 4 year old a camera, you certainly get what you ask for! Second, kids do follow directions a little too well — most only took the 12 pictures assigned leaving another 12 exposures on the camera. Upon further examination the photographs did reveal some thought-provoking insight. I have narrowed those insights into the following Top Ten List.

The Top Ten Things I Learned from “Through the Eyes of A Child”

10. A favorite food picture of the golden arches of McDonald’s is proof itself of the fast food society we live in.
9. A pink dress and plastic crown can make any 4 year old girl feel like a princess.
8. A pot of spaghetti can easily be misconstrued as worms, even by adults.
7. Beauty certainly is in the eye of the beholder.
6. Four children in one family can creatively take pictures of the same plate of pork chops.
5. Kids are plagued with self-esteem issues just like adults.
4. Children appreciate the beauty of Cleveland weather more than the adults do.
3. Pop culture really does inspire our youth (a picture of what makes you proud showed actor Jamie Foxx receiving his Oscar.)
2. When your front door is the picture of what makes you feel safe, what is on the outside of that door seems even more frightening.
1. You can be proud of where you live no matter what street you live on.

So, what's next? Look for the photographs and the eyes behind them to be displayed at Saint Luke’s Foundation 2004 Annual Meeting and Forum this June. Michelle Wick hopes that those who attend the meeting will see “Kids are just neat. As an adult you want children to remain children and enjoy that time in their lives, but many kids in Cleveland will never get that opportunity to enjoy this part of their life.” It's why starting with the annual report and meeting this June, and throughout the next year, Saint Luke’s Foundation and its partners will be examining and addressing the issue of poverty in Cleveland. Key categories as they relate to the issue of poverty to be examined are: Juvenile Justice, Child Health, Family and Economic Security, Child Welfare, and Physical and Mental Health.

There is hope and solutions available to get Cleveland off the top of the “most impoverished cities” list. These children and their vision of their present and future prove that.

from Cool Cleveland contributor Timothy McCue tmccue@saintlukesfoundation.org

For more information visit http://www.saintlukesfoundation.org
http://www.voicesforclevelandschildren.org
http://www.c4fc.org

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