Activism and Advocacy: PhotoVoice and the Science of Storytelling

Community members in Lower Gweru, Zimbabwe, using PhotoVoice methods. Photo by Kate Watson.

Time: 5pm CAT, 11am ET
Date: 23rd November, 2020

Research is not just data collection and analysis but a powerful source of activism and action. Diverse methods make this possible, including photovoice, a novel approach to participatory action research. This method involves photos, videos and other images and aims to capture lived experiences, environments, assets and challenges faced by communities.

What sets photovoice apart?

It evokes emotion, tells stories and identifies “unseen” data. It shifts power dynamics by challenging authority and moving marginalized voices to the center of key discourses.

Our panelists will share motivating examples of 2 photovoice projects in Uganda and South Africa – one focused on youth perspectives around maternal health – and the other in partnership with teachers focused on cultivating hope. The findings from these photovoice projects inform decisions, strategies, policy and practice.

Join us for a creative conversation!

REGISTER HERE

Host:

Zahirah McNatt (DrPH)

Assistant Professor and Godley-St. Goar Chair of the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine, UGHE

Dr. Zahirah McNatt is the Godley-St. Goar Chair of the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine and Assistant Professor at the University of Global Health Equity. She also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University. Dr. McNatt has been a consultant in the areas of global health, humanitarian systems and human rights. She has more than 13 years of experience in the Middle East, East Africa, the Americas & Southeast Asia, working on health systems strengthening in partnership with governments — and research in humanitarian settings. Dr. McNatt earned her doctorate from Mailman School of Public Health and has published in BMC Conflict & Health, the Journal of Refugee Studies, BMJ, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization and PLOS ONE.

Speakers:

Dr. Avivit Cherrington

Programme Coordinator for the BEd Honours (Inclusive Education) programme at Faculty of Education, STADIO 

Dr. Avivit Cherrington is a South African educational psychologist with expertise in community development, and a research interest in transformative social change. She is the Programme Coordinator for the BEd Honours (Inclusive Education) programme at STADIO Higher Education, and a Research Associate with Nelson Mandela University. She also holds the position of Chairperson of the Community and Social Psychology (CaSP) Division of the Psychology Society of South Africa (PsySSA). She has worked collaboratively with various communities designing psychosocial support programmes for vulnerable children and families. In this role she discovered the power of art and visual methods as tools for connecting people across cultural and language divides towards mutual empowerment and transformation. Now she works in developing higher education programmes that seek to foster future teachers as agents of hope and social change. Avivit has facilitated workshops and published several works on using participatory visual methodologies in community-based research-as-change.

Dr. David Musoke

Lecturer in the Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, Makerere University School of Public Health.

Dr. David Musoke is a Lecturer in the Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health at Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda. He has been involved in a vast amount of research on public health and the environment, which has been disseminated extensively including over 50 peer reviewed publications and 70 conference presentations. He has used photovoice, a community based participatory research methodology, in his research including among youth and community health workers. Dr. Musoke is Co-Chair of the Community Health Workers Thematic Working Group of Health Systems Global, Secretary of the International Federation of Environmental Health Africa group, as well as Chair of the Africa Academy for Environmental Health. He is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at Nottingham Trent University, UK.