Earlier this year in April, MRDS organized photography workshops in partnership with the NGO directorate in the Kurdish Region of Iraq.

The workshops are an extension of arts-focused work based out of Cairo, Egypt that is a part of a broader regional effort to explore the use of community art programs. This includes arts-based vocational training among youth, refugees, urban poor, women at risk and other vulnerable communities with the goal of promoting community engagement and self-sufficiency.

MRDS ran a 1 day workshop in Erbil, and a more in-depth, two-day workshop with additional coaching days in Sulaymaniyah. The workshops primarily focused on exploring how NGO’s can share their stories through photography, with a secondary focus on technical equipping via basic and intermediate photography skills.

Equipping local NGO’s with photography training enables better communication of their vision and goals, which in turn can give greater access to international donors and support- all while meaningfully sharing the stories of the people they’re helping.