“I am a farmer”: Young women address conservation using photovoice around Tiwai Island, Sierra Leone

Thompson, Jennifer A.

Abstract

You can express a different story through art. What happens when you use arts-based inquiry to explore environmental knowledge? How can artistic expression value and construct alternative knowledges that might otherwise be overlooked or silenced? Holistic and justice-oriented trends in environmental education argue for the integration of social identity within ecological issues. A participatory community-based photovoice project investigated environmental, community and cultural assets to be protected for future generations in the rural communities around Tiwai Island in Sierra Leone. An intergenerational project with youth and elders, men and women, the participant communities identified 10 themes for conservation and development through their photographs: Food and Agriculture, Education, Religion, The Barray, Water, The House, Transportation, Toilets, and The Forest. However, in such a project the unique expressions of young women's voices may be overlooked. What are young women saying? By creating space to focus specifically on the young women in the study, I hoped to address this challenge of mainstreaming gender in community-based work. The performance piece that emerged elaborates, nuances, and particularises how Food and Agriculture are the most important features of place for young women living in the communities around Tiwai Island.

Citation

Thompson, J. A. (2009). “I am a farmer”: Young women address conservation using photovoice around Tiwai Island, Sierra Leone. Agenda, 23(79), 65-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2009.9676224

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2009-01
• Deposit Date: Apr 5, 2018
• Journal: Agenda
• Print ISSN: 1013-0950
• Electronic ISSN: 2158-978X
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 79
• Pages: 65-69
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2009.9676224
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1330513