2007
Through My Eyes:
A Day in the Life of Children withCancer Around the World
~ Cancer in the Home and Community
We are very pleased to present this photo project for the third year. The 2007 Through My Eyes: A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer Around the World – Cancer in the Home and Community will be the third and final year of this very special photo exhibition. [Year one was Cancer in the Hospital and year two was Cancer in the Classroom]
Have you ever wondered what living with childhood cancer looks like from the child’s perspective? We can treat their disease, carefully follow their progress, hold their hand, wipe their fevered brow and calm their fears while they walk this journey but do we really know what they see? We are all too familiar with the experiences the child faces while in the hospital, but do we really know what the child faces after they return home? This year, we are inviting children to take pictures and tell stories of their experiences in their home and in the community.
The International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organizations (ICCCPO) and the International Society of Pediatric Oncologists (SIOP) are once again collaborating on this project that will show us what the kids see. It will help us to better understand what they are going through, what is important to them and provide us with their point-of-view… if even for a fleeting moment in time.
Your treatment center or parent group is welcome to participate in this project. On February 15, 2007 International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD) and including the entire week of February 11th – 17th, we would like you to place cameras into the hands of children with cancer and ask them to take pictures of their time at home and in the community. Treatment centers and parent organizations are encouraged to invite all children and treatment centres to join in the celebration of ICCD. Whether it is the home or in the community, we invite families to join us in celebrating their child’s life on International Childhood Cancer Day. You can do this by participating in this project as well as by planning a special event to raise awareness for childhood cancer in your community. For more information on ICCD activities please visit .
Each treatment center or parent organization is invited to select the five very best illustrative photos and the most informative and expressive answers to our questions from all of the photos and answers submitted in your area. (Pleasesubmit only the five best photos and stories to Through My Eyes. Due to volume, we cannot select the photos for you. If you send more than five, we will not use your submission at all.)
We ask that you email or post them to the project organizers at:
Email:
Post to:
Through My Eyes:
A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer Around the World
c/o Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta
Suite 302, 609 – 14th Street NW
Calgary, Alberta T2N 2A1 CANADA
We must receive these photos and stories by email, compact disc or by post, no later than March 30, 2007 so that they can be arranged and displayed in a significant way. We prefer that photos be submitted in digital format. Please take photos with high resolution setting on the camera. A minimum of 300 DPI is required for printing.
Please be sure to include the following details: (Submit all details using a computer or typewriter on the form provided in this package)
Name and age of the child who took the picture (first name only)
Diagnosis (we may or may not use this information)
Treatment Centre (name and location) – very important
City and Country
A brief, meaningful story in English, describing:
- What the picture is from and what it is about? (Special event, my family, it is about… or it is from…)
- Why is this picture important to you?
- What is/has been the hardest thing about coming home after being treated for cancer?
- What is the most important thing you would want to tell a child with cancer who is returning home after being diagnosed with cancer?
Please make copies of your submission prior to sending them to us as these photos and stories will become part of a permanent collection and will not be sent back. Please be sure to include the fully completed and signed Consent Forms, which can be faxed, scanned/emailed or sent by post.
The photo exhibition “Through My Eyes” will be shown at the next meeting of SIOP/ICCCPO in Mumbai, India in October/November 2007.
Please help us by sending this message on to any other treatment centres, parent groups or children’s cancer agencies you believe would be interested in this project.
If you have any questions about this project, please contact Christine Wandzura at the address/email above. If you would like to see the photos from the first two years, please go to the ICCCPO website at: and click on the Through My Eyes link.
Thanks for being a part of what we are surewill be another spectacular and movingphotoexhibition that will inspire and motivate people - the world over!
Dr. Tim Eden,Mr. Simon Lala, Dr. Faith Gibson
SIOP ChairmanICCCPO ChairmanSIOP Nurses Committee
This project was inspired by the
KID, ops., Czech Republic
[Club Interactive House, a non-profit organization]
Photo Exhibition and LIFEBOOK – Ales Kysela, Director
Directions for Facilitators
During the test phase of this project we have been able to determine some good ways to present this project to children and parents. We found that:
every child who was approached to take part in the pilot project enthusiastically agreed
all children were very creative in providing a unique point of view
parents and other patients took an active role in support of the child photographer
clinic and hospital staff fully participated by allowing to have their pictures taken
the activity became a therapeutic tool to get children out and about to take pictures
everybody who was involved had a lot of fun!
We found that we had to be very organized to keep track of who was taking each picture. This is particularly important if several children are sharing a digital camera. We created this form to help you to keep track of all the photos that were taken. Copy this form and insert the information for each of the five photos and the accompanying answer/story. Please include all the information, even if the photos are from the same child. These forms must be sent to the organizing committee with the photos.
Organization/Institution Name: / City: / Country:Name: / Age: / Diagnosis: / Picture #
The title of this picture is:
First Question:What is the picture from and what it is about? (Special event, my family, it is about… or, it is from…)
Answer:
Second Question: Why is this picture important to you?
Answer:
Third Question: What is or has been the hardest thing about coming home after being treated for cancer?
Answer:
Fourth Question: What is the most important thing you would want to tell a child with cancer who is returning home after being diagnosed with cancer?
Answer:
For older children, we asked them to fill out this table while they were taking the pictures. We asked them the story questions and to describe what they were taking the picture of using their own words. Parents were actively involved with the younger children, as they were the people who kept records of the photos.
Organizers should create some kind of a reward for the children who participate. We provided photo albums for all the children who participated so they could keep their photos with them. Another suggestion is to create a certificate for all the children who participated.
It is very important to keep very good record of the photos each child takes and ensure that the publicity releases are signed. With many submissions and in sending pictures to another person, it is possible to have a mix up. Please label all photos with a title, or if they are being sent by email, name the file with the name of the photo.
Have cameras ready for the children. Point and shoot, auto-focus digital cameras work best with children. If possible, allow the children to keep the cameras for the entire week. When using digital cameras, please set the camera at a high resolution or picture quality.
When developing pictures, please make two copies so that the children can keep a copy of all of their pictures. If you don’t use a digital camera, then please have the photo scanned by the processing lab and then email it to us. We will be unable to return any photos or stories used in the exhibit.
Children and parents may not be aware of ICCCPO or SIOP and may ask about the organizations.
Instructions may need to be provided more than once. If possible be available during this week while the photos are being taken so that you can answer any questions.
Try to avoid giving children suggestions of what they should take pictures of. Tell them that they can take a picture of anything that they would like to share with others – in other words, pictures that describe how they are feeling, doing, seeing or want to share with us about their home, community, friends or experience with cancer.
If you have any further questions please feel free to send us your question through email at:
This project may take some effort in organizing. We believe that you will be very happy with the results. Have fun and enjoy the project and please remember -- everyone’s participation will help us to tell the world about childhood cancer.
Thank you!
Through My Eyes Project Committee
Instructions for Children Taking Photos
We would like you to join us in creating a very special photo exhibit. Children like you from all around the world are being invited to take pictures of your experience at home and in the community. February 15, 2007 is International Childhood Cancer Day, and you are invited to get involved. Children from all over the world are encouraged to get involved and plan a celebration for International Childhood Cancer Day and participate in this project.
You will be provided with a camera for you to use (by the organizers of the project or by your parents). Your job is to show the world what your eyes are seeing and what you are feeling. If there is a celebration in your hospital or community, what does it look like? If your hospital or community doesn’t have a celebration, what is it like in your home? This is your chance to show the world what it is like to be a cancer patient in your home and community.
You will have to keep track of all the people and things you take a picture of. You may need the help of an adult to do this. Before taking a picture of someone you need to get their permission and have them sign a paper. Your parent or another adult can help with that part. Once you take the picture you will need to tell the adult what you were looking at and why you chose to take that picture. When you are done taking all your pictures, please return the camera to the person who gave it to you. They will make sure that the pictures are sent in to us. Make sure that they know your name and how old you are so that we can show everyone the great picture and they will know who took it. And of course, please answer the questions that will become your “story”.
Your treatment center or parent organization will collect all of the pictures and stories from your area. Some will be selected and be sent to Canada where they will be printed and shown at a childhood cancer conference for doctors, nurses, parents and survivors. This conference will be held in Mumbai, India in October/November 2007. We will display the pictures put up on a big display, like in a museum, for people to look at. Our hope is that this exhibition will raise awareness for childhood cancer around the world.
Thanks for helping us with this very special project and for allowing us to show your very important view of the world of childhood cancer.
Sincerely,
Through My Eyes Project Committee
Overview for Parents
Dear Parents:
The International Society of Pediatric Oncologists (SIOP) and the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organizations (ICCCPO) are together coordinating a very special project. It is called “Through My Eyes: A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer Around the World – Cancer in the Home and Community.” This is the third year of a three-year photo project in which children will show us what they are experiencing. This year we are featuring childhood cancer in the home and community.
Parents are encouraged to get involved with your child’s school to organize a special event in recognition of International Childhood Cancer Day, February 15, 2007. Even if your child’s hospital does not recognize International Childhood Cancer Day, we would like to invite your child to participate in the project by taking pictures and telling their story by answering the questions about life at home or in the community.
This is truly an international project and our hope is that there will be more than 100 children’s cancer clinics and parent organizations throughout the world participating in it. During the week of February 11th to 17th (International Childhood Cancer Day is February 15) children around the world will take the photos of their experiences at home and the community.
The photo exhibition will be shown in Mumbai, India during an international childhood cancer conference that is attended by pediatric oncologists, nurses, psychologists and parent and survivor group leaders. Each treatment center and parent organization has been invited to submit the five best photos submitted by children in their area. We believe that this project will tell us a very powerful story about the world of children’s cancer from the child’s point-of-view. Children are invited to submit photos illustrating their experiences while they are at home or in their community.
We would like to ask for your child’s participation in this program. Your help is truly appreciated and thank you for encouraging and aiding your child in taking the photos for this project.
Sincerely,
Christine Wandzura, M.S.M.
Project Coordinator,
Through My Eyes: A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer Around the World
c/o Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta
Suite 302, 609 – 14th Street NW
Calgary, Alberta T2N 2A1 CANADA
Email:
PHOTO SUBMISSION, RELEASE AND CONSENT
Complete this form for each photo being submitted.
To: / “Through My Eyes: A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer Around the World”c/o Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta
Suite 302, 609 – 14th Street N.W.
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2N 2A1
Email: /
In connection with the submission of a photograph, I transfer all copyright and moral rights I may have and consent to the use of the photograph and my personal information. I understand that the photograph may be used for public display and may be published electronically or physically without further consent. I understand that the photograph and the text will not be returned.
Name of Photograph: ______
Photographer:
Name / Age / Diagnosis / Signature of Parent or GuardianAll persons depicted in the photograph must sign this consent.
I hereby consent to the use of my image on public display or publication without any payment of any kind.
Name / Signature of Person Depicted or Parent/GuardianName / Signature of Person Depicted or Parent/Guardian
Name / Signature of Person Depicted or Parent/Guardian
Name / Signature of Person Depicted or Parent/Guardian
School Contact:
Name and Contact Details of Submitting Institution and Responsible IndividualSchool/Institution / Person (Please Print) / Email or Fax Address
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