EVENTS: Maya Youth Docementaries streaming

March, 2015 - Unlocking Silent Histories (USH) in partnership with Maya Traditions Foundation, will host a webinar to introduce our non-profit organization.  This virtual presentation will take place on Monday, March 30th from noon PM EST.  The fundraising event, located at WEBLINK, will showcase two new documentary shorts created by Guatemalan Maya youth production teams, in participation with Adobe Youth Voices.  Two of our Youth Leaders will be live online to engage viewers in discussion and comment on their experiences with USH.
 
Unlocking Silent Histories (USH) is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying the identities and voices of indigenous youth through documentary filmmaking. Through the art of filmmaking, students capture aspects of their cultures that they determine are most important to examine, document, and share with local and global communities.  In the process, they learn invaluable communication, technological, and leadership skills.
 
Why should you join us?
·      We want to share our innovative learning model, a constructivist approach that honors local knowledge, voices, and traditions.
·      Our youth filmmakers are eager to share their films and tell you why USH is important for their communities, their culture, and their language.
·      We want to interact with you and hear how you'd like to be part of the story!
 
USH began working in underprivileged indigenous communities in the Lake Atitlán region of Guatemala in 2013.  Through its collaboration with Maya Traditions Foundation, we have established trust within local populations and expanded our reach from just one to four communities in two years.  At USH, youth attend workshops, participate in cultural excursions, gain classroom experiences, and interact with community members as they conceptualize, create, edit, and share documentary shorts focusing on themes of their choice. Upon completion of their first film, participants have the opportunity to enter our fellowship program as Youth Leaders, earning enough money to pay for their high school or university education.  As leaders, fellows teach new groups of students and offer their insight, experience, and creativity to the USH vision.  Since beginning this program, 23 students have created 19 films and four students are currently employed as program leaders.

For more information, contact Donna DeGennaro: donna@unlockingsilenthistories.org