For four days in January (January 10th, 11th, 17th and 18th), 14 educators and 14 students from seven underserved schools in Karachi; Hyderabad; and District Tando Allah Yar, Sindh participated in a professional development workshop in Karachi for the Photojournalism 2.014: Heritage, Hunger and Food Security program.

The program, which is made possible through funding from the U.S. Department of State and sponsorship from the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, seeks to foster positive and productive interaction among students and educators in Pakistan, Tajikistan and the United States to promote a stable, prosperous and integrated region. Specifically, it engages participants from these three countries in cross-cultural collaboration to help youth develop photojournalism and media skills; gain awareness of issues surrounding local and global food systems and the power of photography and technology to address them; and increase the number of educators in participating countries who can equip students with modern communications, job skills and knowledge to enhance their employability and make positive contributions to their communities.

The four-day workshop provided participating educators and students with high-quality comprehensive photojournalism education training, as well as an introduction to online collaboration and using photojournalism to explore local and global food systems. The workshop was co-sponsored by Canon Pro Academy. Professional instructors from Canon also provided training on media tools and photography techniques. Additional trainers included journalists from The Express Tribune, trained photojournalists and a renowned horticulturist.

The workshop concluded with field trips to a food market and an organic farm, where participants learned about healthy food choices and organic farming and applied their newly acquired photojournalistic techniques to document their visits.

The workshop was the first step in preparing educators to implement the program with their students. Upon completion of the workshops in each country, participating educators from all three countries will participate in an online course together this spring.

To see more images from the workshop, please view the album below: