• Communiqué [Jan]

    Communiqué [Jan]

    DTJ has left for NE DRC to begin a preliminary research assessment to understand the psycho-social situation facing former LRA child soldiers and to gather the opinions, thoughts and recommendations from those most affected by LRA violence and be their megaphone. Lindsay Branham, DTJ’s Director of Programs is joined by Jocelyn Kelly, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s [...]

    Jan 13, 2012 | Have your say »

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Communiqué [Jan]

DTJ has left for NE DRC to begin a preliminary research assessment to understand the psycho-social situation facing former LRA child soldiers and to gather the opinions, thoughts and recommendations from those most affected by LRA violence and be their megaphone. Lindsay Branham, DTJ’s Director of Programs is joined by Jocelyn Kelly, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s Director of their Women in War program to carry out the assessment. DTJ is honored to collaborate with such a thoughtful and skilled researcher and is thankful for the generous funding that has made this possible. The research will be used to better advocate for services and funding for this region and to inform DTJ’s upcoming Mobile Cinema Pilot Project to launch in NE DRC this Spring.

// Photograph of a former LRA child soldier from Congo taken in Yambio, South Sudan.

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Jan 13, 2012 | Categories: Communique | Leave A Comment »

Children Matter

Hey DTJ friends. We know you have already been bombarded with organizations asking for donations and family members asking for presents. We get it, you don’t want to be asked again.

So, instead of asking you to give to DTJ this year (which we still hope you will), we are asking you to watch this film – it’s only about a minute long, and is the reason behind what we do. We just finished it and we are pretty proud of what it says. All of our work to expose injustices children face through original visual journalism rests on the tenant that children, yes, children, matter. This might seem simple but we as a world clearly don’t believe this, otherwise the over 1 billion children living in crisis, wouldn’t be. We give platform to their stories because not only do all children have the right to be heard, but we believe that their stories can shape and change social expectations towards care and protection of children. And we are not stopping until this happens.

So please watch and if you do decide to give to help us reach our $20,000 goal and continue to provide space for the stories of children to be shared with the world and leveraged for impact, we would be thrilled. And if you want to pass this along to 5 or 10 of your friends, we hope you do that too.

Happy Holidays from DTJ.

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Dec 16, 2011 | Categories: Communique | Leave A Comment »

DTJ Speaks at the 21st Anniversary of the CRC at Harvard University

This week DTJ’s Jonathan Olinger and Lindsay Branham will speak at the Convention on the Rights of the Child Conference at Harvard University. This year marks the 21st anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which was developed as a human rights treaty outlining the civic, political, economic, social, health and human rights of children globally. The conference, held December 8th and 9th will  consider ways to advance the CRC’s transformative agenda with respect to adolescents aged 10 to 18. On Thursday December 8th, Harvard Provost Alan Garber and global philanthropist Albina du Boisrouvray will address the opening plenary session, featuring a conversation between Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake about the cost of inaction on issues affecting adolescent opportunity. Jonathan and Lindsay will give remarks during the morning session on Friday December 9th.

DTJ is also presenting three multi-media pieces corresponding to the three panels during the conference, giving context and story to the issues being discussed. Maombi: the story of a former girl child soldier in DRC, Not Afraid: the story of a young boy who survived a landmine explosion in Afghanistan, and The Clarinetist: the story of a teenage boy overcoming violence through music in Juarez, Mexico. Maombi was shot and produced by DTJ, Not Afraid was shot by contributing photographer Rafael Sanchez-Fabres and produced by DTJ and The Clarinetist was shot and produced by Dominic Bracco II with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The stories will be available to the public through DTJ soon.

This 21st anniversary marks an important moment for children and DTJ is honored to bring the stories of children before the world’s leaders as they seek to find solutions to the billions of children living in crisis. DTJ is thankful for this unique partnership between DTJ and the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University.

The conference is hosted by the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights in collaboration with:

■ UNICEF, Gender, Rights and Civic Engagement Section, DPP

■ The Harvard Global Health Institute, Harvard University

■ The Swedish International Development Agency

■ The Committee on African Studies, Harvard University

■ The South Asian Initiative, Harvard University

■ The Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Studies, Harvard University

■ The Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard University

■ The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University

■ The Women and Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School

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Dec 06, 2011 | Categories: Reportage | Leave A Comment »

Preventing HIV in DRC

Today is World AIDS Day. And yet this disease that has claimed the lives of millions can be prevented. In March DTJ travelled to DRC to document the work of Global Strategies, an organization working to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child through their partner organization, Heal Africa. DTJ witnessed mothers living with HIV experience the gift of their children being HIV negative. In a nation with little support to assist those living with the disease, this is often the difference between life and death. Take a look at what Global Strategies is doing in DRC and hear the stories of the mothers who prove it.

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Dec 01, 2011 | Categories: DR Congo | Leave A Comment »

#DRC2011

Today over 32 million registered voters make their second truly democratic choice in 50 years. Congo’s elections matter.

Our Congolese friend and partner Francois told us that “If you want peace, give peace.”

Hope for peace in Congo. #DRC2011

// Photograph taken in Goma, DRC

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Nov 28, 2011 | Categories: DR Congo | Leave A Comment »

Data Visualization: Education vs Correction Spending

An interesting data visualization of higher education spending and correction spending in the United States. Although the chart has some flaws, ie, there will be a disproportianate amount of money flowing into correction spending, relying solely on government funding whereas universities have the means to fund themselves. However, this definitely illuminates a discrepancy in the United States. America has the highest incarceration rate by population but is only 6th in the world in regards to college decrees. What kind of future are we building for our children?

Prison vs Princeton
Created by: Public Administration

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Nov 01, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Reportage: Let the World Know

DTJ is honored to present our first Reportage piece profiling Sister Giovanna, a Camboni nun the DTJ team met in South Sudan last year. Sister Giovanna has lived through several decades of violence committed by the LRA and has watched friends survive mutilation, abduction and has grieved the deaths of those lost to the LRA side by side with Ugandans, Congolese and Sudanese. Her perspective is unique as she is a rare foreigner who has closely witnessed the long path of atrocities committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army during her over 25 years of living and serving in Africa. Just yesterday, Senator Inhofe read a letter from Sister Giovanna to the Senate, describing in detail the horror of the LRA, coming on the heels of President Obama’s recent decision to send 100 US advisers to the region to address the ongoing violence and stop the terror of Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, which our friends at Resolve and Invisible Children have been working tirelessly for. As Sister Giovanna asked DTJ to share her words with the world, we hope you will too. She asks what brother and sister really mean unless, she says, we actually DO something. Could this recent development be that something? At least the beginning? We hope so.

And look for more posts from the Reportage series over the coming months.

Special thanks to the team at Resolve and all of their hard work to make not only the recent news from President Obama possible but their partnership with DTJ to travel to LRA affected regions and document stories like this.

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Oct 18, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »