FEATURED PROJECTS

SOMEONE ELSE'S TREASURE

“When the company first came here, we welcomed them because they promised to bring us development – services to local communities, schools, hospitals, basics. But since they came, they have turned our whole society upside down! Land is going away, our food sources are going away, culture, costume, everything is going away, fading away! It’s worse than you can imagine!”

– Jethro Tulin, Ipili tribesman from Porgera, Papua New Guinnea.

Someone Else’s Treasure is a collaborative multimedia project that examines the social and environmental impacts of different multinational mining projects from the perspectives of affected indigenous communities around the world.

INTRODUCTION (Photo Essay)

Someone Else's Treasure includes the stories of affected communities in Australia, Canada, Chile, Guatemala, Papua New Guinnea, the Philippines, and Tanzania. In an effort to better understand the true cost of an industry that shapes the world around all of us, the focus is on the externalized - the men, women and children that have been left out of the equations and are therefore forced to pay the price for someone else's treasure....(more)

PHILIPPINES (Photo Essay)

The record of large scale mining in the Philippines is nothing short of disastrous. The extraction of these treasured metals comes at a high price. People who were already marginalized and living in poverty to begin with are losing what they most treasure – families are being torn apart, livelihoods destroyed, ecosystems ruined, and ancient indigenous cultures are being eroded...(more)

TANZANIA (Photo Essay)

The following accounts of mass displacements, violent confrontations, lost livelihoods, exploited workers, and contaminated ecosystems raise serious questions about the mining industry in Tanzania and internationally. The focus here is on communities surrounding the Bulyanhulu and North Mara Gold Mines, both owned by the world’s largest gold mining company Barrick Gold, and the Geita Gold Mine, owned by the third largest gold company, AngloGold Ashanti...(more)

GUATEMALA (Photo Essay and Video)

Within the Department of San Marcos, in the western highlands of Guatemala, the Marlin Mine is located along the border between the municipalities of San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipakapa. These communities are largely composed of Indigenous Mayans who speak their traditional languages in addition to Spanish. 85% of the mine is located in San Miguel Ixtahacán, where the population is mostly Mam-Maya, one of the larger Mayan subgroups.Sipakapa is inhabited mostly by the Sipakapense, one of the smaller subgroups...(more)

More Someone Else's Treasure

PHOTO ESSAYS

NGORBOB: OUR LAND IS DYING AND SO ARE WE (Photoessay)

“The climate has changed. There is no water here, nothing. Our land is dying and so are we” Ngorbob elders.

Ngorbob is a small Masai village near Arusha, Tanzania. They have not seen rain for over a year, and as a result their farmlands and livestock are dying. Many of the residents of Ngorbob have already been forced to leave their ancestral home in search of water and work...(more)

VILLAGE COMMUNITY BANKING
(Photoessay)
“My life and family has changed, but the whole community has benefitted too because if you educate a woman – one lady – you are educating the whole community.” – Hadija, VICOBA member in Lushoto, Tanzania.

IN TANZANIA, Village Community Banking (VICOBA) provides a structure through which communities are able to organize themselves, provide skill-sharing, and capacity building in an effort to combat poverty...(more)

INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE'S HEALTH TRIBUNE (Photo essay)

The Health Tribunal was initiated by community members of San Miguel Ixtahuacán. Using community testimony, scientific research and human rights organization’s knowledge to examine how the presence of Goldcorp’s mining operations have affected community residents. Over 600 people were in attendance from across Guatemala, as well as Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Canada, and the USA...(more)

VIDEO

TAR SANDS HEALING WALK (Video)

July 2014. At the Tar Sands Healing Walk, Elder Taz Bouchier talks about the impacts of the Tar Sands on Indigenous people in the Athabasca watershed. The walk covered 14 kilometres along Highway 63, where it loops around the Syncrude site, just north of Fort McMurray. (4:48 minutes)

THE BREATHING LANDS (Video)

The Elders of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation say the water flows through their blood, and their bodies are built of the trout that swim in these clean rivers and lakes. Taking care of their watershed is a relationship at the core of who they are as an Indigenous Nation, it is a responsibility handed down to them from the Creator through the teachings of their Elders. (28:26 minutes)

WHERE ARE ALL THE CHILDREN? (Music Video)

From the CD BEAUTY AND HARD TIMES. With passionate wisdom, the powerful lyrics of Mama D Horizon Dancer are set to imagery illustrating the global reach of humanity's inhumanity. (5:46 minutes)

NESKANTAGA: WE LOVE OUR LAND (VIDEO)

In the heart of the world's largest intact boreal wetland, a tiny First Nation community is fighting to protect their lands, water and way of life. Governments are refusing to listen and a giant mining corporation is determined to mine the Ring of Fire on Neskantaga land. (12:25 minutes)

KISLUYAN (VIDEO)

High in the mountains of the Philippine island of Mindoro, members of the Alangan tribe live in the village of Kisluyan, on the same land their ancestors have lived on for generations. Kisluyan is one of 26 indigenous villages that face the threat of displacement by the Mindoro Nickel Project, a proposed open pit nickel mine on their ancestral land. (5:49 minutes)

REMEMBER THE LAND (VIDEO)

In May 2011, 150 people from around the world gathered in Toronto to consider the impact of Canadian mining in their communities. Remember the Land is the story of that gathering -- the story of peoples from the Global South who are engaged in struggles to protect the land that they know and love; the land that sustains them materially, culturally and spiritually; the land that has its own deep, inherent worth. (11:11 minutes)

TRANSFORMATIONS

Transformations: Stories of Partnership, Resilience and Positive Change is a collaborative photojournalism project intended to increase dialogue and further understanding of international partnerships that address complex global challenges. Through individual and organizational stories the Ontario Council for International Cooperation (OCIC) invites viewers to actively engage in a new narrative on international cooperation and solidarity.

WORKING CHILDREN AND YOUTH AS ACTIVE EMPOWERED CITIZENS (Photo Essay)

Peru 2014. The ‘Children Lead the Way’ program seeks to empower working girls and boys to become active citizens, and to access dignified work. It does this by providing access to quality and relevant education and protection from exploitation, and by encouraging and enabling working children and youth to participate in programs and policies that affect their lives. Through the ‘Children Lead the Way’ program in Peru, working children and youth have access to after-school tutoring and technical and entrepreneurial training. They are also encouraged to participate in peer leadership activities and to engage in public affairs as a part of the National Movement of Working Children (MNNATSOP)...(more)

COMPREHENSIVE MULTIDISCIPLINARY CLEFT LIP AND PALATE CARE (Photo Essay)

Peru 2014. Transforming Faces and KusiROSTROS have been working together since 2012 to provide decentralized comprehensive cleft care at five Community Rehabilitation Centres (CRCs) in impoverished, peripheral areas of Lima, Peru. Core to their work is the understanding that cleft lip and palate, a common birth anomaly, can be successfully treated through a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach. To do this they fund, collaborate, consult, and train local cleft teams that include audiologists, dentists, nurse coordinators, orthodontists, social workers, speech therapists and surgeons. Transforming Faces encourages medical professionals to practice in their home countries, and builds the capacity of health systems to improve the quality of life of their citizens...(more)

PARTNERSHIP RESILIENCE AND POSITIVE CHANGE IN NEPAL (Photo Essay)

Nepal 2015. Learn about the work of Women for Peace and Democracy-Nepal, and World Accord, to empower marginalized women and their communities. See how women in rural Nepal have re-built their homes and lives following the devastating 2015 Nepal earthquake, and witness ways Nepali women are transforming their communities through long-term socio-economic development programs...(more)

PARTNERSHIP RESILIENCE AND POSITIVE CHANGE IN TANZANIA (Photo Essay)

Tanzania 2016. In this exhibit we share photos and stories of several women, men and children impacted by CPAR’s Farmer Field Schools and Junior Farmer Field Schools in Bunda District, Northern Tanzania. These provide a glimpse into the efforts of farmers, communities, students, and their schools to integrate sustainable approaches to food production and livelihood development by: encouraging gender equality; through alternative energy production, such as biogas; and with village community banking (VICOBA).

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