The New Zealand Embassy, in cooperation with Unicef, is bringing to Manila the photography exhibition “Christchurch: See Through My Eyes.”

The exhibition showcases photographs taken by 24 children from Christchurch, New Zealand, and illustrates how the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes affected their lives and communities.

“We hope that the exhibition will encourage people to reflect on how best to prepare for disasters, including here in the Philippines,” said New Zealand Ambassador Reuben Levermore.

New Zealand is a long-standing development partner of the Philippines. The New Zealand Aid Programme supports disaster-risk-reduction and management projects in the Philippines aimed at building greater resilience against future disasters. New Zealand has also extended humanitarian assistance to communities affected by such natural disasters as tropical storms Bopha and Washi.

Unicef Philippines representative Tomoo Hozumi remarked: “The countries on the Pacific Ring of Fire—be it the Philippines, New Zealand or Japan—share the challenge of high susceptibility to major disasters, which is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ Forms of expressive activity, such as photography, help in the psychosocial recovery of the affected children. I hope this exhibition enhances understanding, compassion and commitment to disaster awareness and preparedness.”

For the  exhibition, the  photographers, aged 11-14, participated in workshops led by professional photographer Stuart Hale, from whom they learned basic skills for taking quality digital photos and how to compose a shot to communicate their thoughts and ideas.

The photographers also provided  captions to their photos.

“See Through My Eyes”  runs June 21-July 5 at  Water Dragon Gallery, Yuchengco Museum, Makati City.