National Geographic Photo Camp to Mentor Young Syrian Refugees in Jerash, Jordan

WASHINGTON (March 23, 2015)-A group of Syrian refugee teenagers will learn to tell their stories through photography during National Geographic Photo Camp Jordan, March 30-April 3, highlighting issues faced by young people in the region. During the five-day Photo Camp workshop in Jerash, Jordan, 20 participants ages 13-16 will be mentored by National Geographic contributing photographers Amy Toensing and Matt Moyer, National Geographic magazine editor Jessie Wenders, Photo Camp technical director Jon Brack, and National Geographic Emerging Explorer and cultural educator Aziz Abu Sarah.

The workshop, conducted in partnership with Abu Sarah, will train the students to document - through photography and writing - the reality of their lives as refugees from the conflict in Syria, which began four years ago this month. Since then, Syrian refugees have flooded into parts of Jordan, including Jerash, where there are now more than 60,000 Syrian refugees. According to the United Nations, nearly 4 million people have become refugees in the neighboring countries of Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. Abu Sarah and his Syrian colleague Nousha Kabawat founded Project Amal ou Salam, which has been supporting education programs in Jerash. Amal ou Salam will be providing support for Photo Camp Jordan.

We hope Photo Camp Jordan will provide these young photographers with a creative outlet to share their unique perspectives, said Terry Garcia, National Geographic's chief science and exploration officer. National Geographic believes in the power of science, exploration and storytelling to change the world. We've found that Photo Camp inspires a new generation of storytellers as well as the members of the community who view their work.

Olympus Imaging America Inc. has supplied cameras for the Photo Camp. National Geographic Photo Camp has provided programs for more than 1,500 young people in 67 locations since 2003. For more information on recent Photo Camps, visit:

http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/12/peace-building-with-cameras-in-south-sudan/

http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/19/photo-camp-kenya-teaching-the-language-of-photography/

http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/25/photo-camp-arizona-empowering-teens-to-tell-their-stories-of-border-life/

About the National Geographic Society

With a mission to inspire, illuminate and teach, the National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. The member-supported Society, which believes in the power of science, exploration and storytelling to change the world, reaches over 600 million people each month through its media platforms, products and events. National Geographic has funded more than 11,000 research, conservation and exploration projects, and its education programs promote geographic literacy. For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.com, and find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google , YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

About Aziz Abu Sarah

Cultural educator and entrepreneur Aziz Abu Sarah is a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, a TED Fellow and the executive director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution. He is a public speaker and is widely published in the American, European and Middle Eastern press. He has received numerous international awards, including the Intercultural Innovation Award from The United Nations Alliance of Civilization, and has been named as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world for the past five years by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Kirsten Elstner Kelsey Flora

Vision Workshops National Geographic

1 (410) 279-5481 1 (202) 828-8023

kirsten@VisionWorkshops.org kflora@ngs.org

LINK:	http://press.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/23/national-geographic-pho...
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