When you think about your country, it’s history, and the people that live there, what comes to mind in terms of social issues and human rights? Do you feel proud? Happy? Discouraged? Fearful? What is the general morale of the people who live in your country? Why do you think that is?

Dr. Jenifer White, Psychologist and Founder of NGO, Project 1948 intends to highlight the impact that an individual’s prejudices and ingrained perceptions can have on their world experience, and how this can cause entire communities of people to become divided along ethnic and cultural lines.

Project 1948 uses art-based peace building to achieve conflict resolution and communal reconciliation amongst separated groups of people -- the future leaders in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). The organisation’s name derives from the year that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was published. This declaration states that all human beings are inherently equal and have human rights.

Given their deeply rooted history and the war that took place between them, Bosnia and Herzegovina are the focal points of Project 1948’s latest photo-voice program called "Give a camera. Give a voice”, in which Dr. White tasks youth with documenting their own lives and expressing community concerns through photography and voice recordings in order to get a better understanding of how people in these countries perceive the strengths and weaknesses of their communities. Dr. White believes that analysis from dissecting the images and transcribing the voice recordings will one day be an essential tool for peace building and impactful social policy implementation that could be used worldwide.

Recently, Project 1948 collaborated with Photographers Without Borders (PWB) – a Toronto-based NGO that empowers humanity by connecting photographers to other NGOs/initiatives in need and visually communicating the ways that grassroots organisations are addressing social/environmental problems and creating change in their communities all around the world. Together, these NGOs traveled to Sarajevo and taught technical photography to young adults. They also delivered humanitarian aid to unmarked Syrian refugee camps in Bosnia. Be on the lookout for imagery caught on camera during their trip in upcoming publications and documentaries!

Jenifer L. White, Ph.D., Founder of Project 1948