Photography with a Difference: ASP, UST, and Canon A-Team

Ginyn the EIC and me :)

It’s one thing that you get to do your hobby  but it’s another thing doing it for a cause. It’s one selfless activity that fulfills not only yourself but more so, the people whom you work with. A few months ago, our college publication (UST Nursing Journal), headed by a fellow blogger, Ginyn Noble, came up with a tie up project between the Autism Society of the Philippines, Canon Advocacy Team,  and other volunteer photographers. The project was called “Photography With a Difference” or simply “PWD”. 


In an interview with John Chua, veteran photographer and head of the Canon Advocacy Team, he shared that one of the goals of this project is to give that one day of enjoyment to those children with autism. The goal then of the photographers is to capture those moments and immortalize them through pictures which will be handed out to the participants at the end of the activity.

The group visited two places: the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center and the Manila Zoo.

 The first stop was in the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center at the SM Mall of Asia. I felt like a kid once again going on a field trip. That moment of anticipation for the gates to open, the awe that creeps on us as we watched the display, the smiles from every child as they walked through the galleries -Priceless!

Thank you SM Mall of Asia for helping us out in this activity.

Posing for a souvenir shot

The Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center is one of the best technology centers in the Philippines. It houses eleven different interactive galleries that are very appropriate for children as it allows them to manipulate the displays. My favorite was the Virtual Reef gallery where we were allowed to converse with a virtual fish. It speaks and understands English and Filipino!

At the planetarium

The planetarium is also one of those places to look forward to in the center. A dome that displays a video on the different concepts about heavenly bodies are presented, featuring characters from Sesame street like Birg Bird, Elmo, etc. Kids will definitely have a blast with this experience!

Amazed at the display at Nido Science Discovery Center

Bringing technology closer to the children

After a quick lunch break, we all met at the Manila Zoo. I've been to the Manila Zoo last year as a chaperone in my brother's field trip but we weren't allowed to enter the Kinder Zoo. I say, half of the zoo experience is lost of you don't go to the Kinder Zoo where you could actually touch and take photographs with the animals. You could literally experience a wild boar walking with you along the path or a cockatoo perched on another person's shoulder.

Kinder Zoo

Here's one moment of ignorance: We passed by the place where birds were perched on a branch. I said to a friend, "Uyy kunan mo naman ako ng picture sa mga parrot!". The Zoo keeper, who seem to have overheard our conversation, butted in and said, "It's not a parrot, it's a Scarlet Macaw". Sorry naman.

After taking that shot, I wanted another picture with a white bird. I said, "Uyy yun namang white makaw" (thinking I was correct now since the birds looked just like the red one) She corrected me again, saying, "Oh that's a cockatoo"  Ako na ang ignorante.haha!

NJ Photographers feeding the elephants

Elephant feeding

This boy's such a cutie :)

One realization I've had from the event is that not all children with autism look like the typical stereotype look of people with impaired neural development. It's totally different from Down's Syndrome where an impairment in the genetic code is present thus causing the similar facial features among those inflicted. Contrary to this, physical abberations may not always be manifested in an individual with autism. Some of these children even have gifts such as photographic memory and superior IQ!

Happy family :)

Zipline

Buwaya

I miss drinking from tetra packs. :)

After a whole day of having fun with the children, we had our own dose with a boat race :)

Photos from John Chua, Orville Calicdan, Neil Ho, Mike Chan Li, and Isa Lan