Oaxaca houses the largest indigenous population in Mexico. There are 520 villages in Oaxaca State alone. Every village speaks a language of their own.

All of the children you'll meet in the Oaxaca 'Cameras for Kids' Project come from challenging circumstances. Most of the children are of indigenous decent (Indigena including Triquis). Some are Mestizos (mix of Spanish and Indigena). Most live in houses/shelters constructed of aluminium with dirt flooring and shared latrines, a lot of the times with a large family, held together by a single parent or grandparent, and or with another family altogether. Most of the children's families are not able to make ends meet and hence Oaxaca Street Children Grassroots (our partner organisation) has stepped in to make education and healthcare a possibility. That said, these kids often work on the streets after school, selling food, trinkets, and whatever else they can.

In spite of their hardship, they are a bunch of lively, excitable, motivated and talented kids! We are looking foward to seeing their progression throughout the program!

Alma initially quiet and shy, but then asking lots of questions. She surprised me with the photos she took even though she has never used a camera.

We were at Monte Alban when Alma suddenly went into steelth mode and gestured for me to look at something in the bushes. Can't see a thing I thought. Then Alma launched forward, bringing back a grasshopper that was so completely camouflaged!

Brian is an interesting little character. He is very cheeky, eager to learn and quicker to move on, learning zoom, video and any buttons he can find on the camera when I'd only taught them to turn it on. I can't wait to see his development in the next few weeks!

Hmm... this kid seems to get cheekier by the second! He went up to an indigenous woman and asked if he could take a photo. She shook her head and finger vehemently in protest. Astonished, he asked ,"por que" (why) and took the photo anyway. Pro in the making or have i created a little monster?!

Diego is keen to learn, a good-natured kid and a quiet achiever. Does some mean tricks with his spinning top!

Quiet achiever... hmm.. think again... now as cheeky as Brian and Adrian. Waiting for him to surprise me still.

Elizabeth always has that big smile on her face. She is kind and sharing and is keen to absorb and learn.

That smile persists and she is starting to come out of her shell much more, playing more the big sister role.

Luis is a good kid. Mature, composed and eager to learn.

As the workshop progresses, Luis is exhibiting much more of an artistic talent than I'd initially seen. I'm excited to see what he brings in the next couple of weeks.

Profirio. Eye-brow ring and punk hair do makes him stand out.

Hmm... think I may have bored this 16 yo. He hasn't turned up since the second class.

Savina is outgoing, intelligent and very quick to pick things up. Miss popular of the group. Also very artistically talented. I'm waiting for her to really surprise me!

Getting a little distracted...being Miss Popular isn't easy I guess.

Fredi is an experimenter. At one stage, I looked across at him and he had the camera pointed at the stairs, observing and experimenting. He loves holding the camera above his head, almost falling backwards and looking into the sky!

In our Macro class, Fredi gathered a pile of ants and leaves, continued to reposition the ants as they crawled in all directions, so he could proceed take his photo.

Evident in the photographs she has taken so far, Paola has a good sense of "capturing the moment". Interesting compositions! Can't wait to see what she produces next!

At our excursion to Monte Alban, Paola ran up to me frowning, "maestro maestro!" pointing to the LCD screen that read 'Memory Card Full'. My response: now it's the photographer's choice, delete or keep and live with it. She decided to keep every shot,

Ricardo is cheerful, does not stop talking (!!) and a very fast learner! He even assumed the chief interpreter role (even though he couldn't really speak English) even though we had interpreters helping out. A very confident boy. Great with closeups so far. Keen to see what he brings!

Still chief interpreter. Photos getting much better! Great sense of imagination!

Crisanto is a ball of energy! Very quick to learn and even quicker to talk. I had to stop him talking at several instances just so others could get their word in. I see great potential in him.

Still trying to stop him talking. He has come through with some amazing photos.

Esmeralda craves attention, talks at a million miles an hour and is dying to go on our excursion to Monte Alban & Mitla. She screeches at the very thought of it! I am so impressed with the photos she has produced so far and am dying to see what she would take next! The photo on the left is a self-shot by Esmeralda.

Esme can't sit still for a moment, but constantly amazes us with her photos! Her sense of imagination and perspective is really quite impressive! I can't wait to share it with you (in our exhibition back in Melbourne)

Jose appears a fungoing and inquisitive character. He has just joined our class so will wait to see what he comes up with.

Seeing things quite differently to the other kids, Jose is coming up with the goods! Very artistic!

Luis has a great eye and is already proving in his first class to be artistically talented. Can't wait to see his work as the course progresses.

No sense of inhibition! Makings of a great photographer!

Salma is the youngest of the group. Is quietly spoken but contributes at every opportunity. She talks composition, lines, colours. The photos she has taken are just amazing! I have great hopes for Salma!

Like her brother, Luis Edwardo, she has no sense of inhibition. In our mini excursion to the park one day, I turned around and there she was, pointing the camera straight at a couple of policemen who were both stunned yet facinated by this little girl!

Adrian is outgoing and confident. Bit of a chatterbox and poses at every opportunity.

Outgoing, confident, rapper-wanna-be, and loves skateboarders. He took a gazillion photos of skateboarders doing their thing on one of our shoots themed 'Culture'.

Eliazib and his brother Carlos has just joined the workshop (2nd week in). Eliazib is a fast learner and has proven to have a great eye for photography. There was no easing him in.. first class was Macro and he has come up with some fabulous photos! I'm excited to see what he brings in the next couple of weeks before the exhibition!

2nd class: Macro II. He has nailed it!!!! He is a little photographer in the making! I can't believe the photos he has produced! OMG! They are simply admirable! So creative too!