{"id":42512,"date":"2021-02-27T21:44:56","date_gmt":"2021-02-28T02:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=42512"},"modified":"2021-03-01T15:01:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T20:01:33","slug":"photo-project-depicts-pandemic-barriers-of-south-end-marginalized-youth-of-ottawa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/photo-project-depicts-pandemic-barriers-of-south-end-marginalized-youth-of-ottawa\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo project shows pandemic barriers for south end marginalized youth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre launched a photo project to amplify the voices of the marginalized youth in the south end of Ottawa and shed light on their struggles during the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The project, called \"It's Different For Us,\" was launched on Feb. 18, 2021, and showcases the photographs and quotes from stories told by these youths as they face different challenges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Urge Ibrahim, health promoter for youth at the South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre, says they are \u201cvery pleased\u201d at the centre with the public reception of the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThe reception has been really great. A lot of youth are sharing that they really resonate with the youth we\u2019ve interviewed,\u201d she says, noting that many share the same struggles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Financial struggles and academic hardship were among many of the interviewees\u2019 hardships.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cI\u2019m a first-generation student. When it comes to academic support, I don\u2019t have anyone to look to at home,\u201d one youth is quoted saying.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Faisa Omer, the photographer of the project, says the systemic barriers and injustices these racialized communities face \u201cis another pandemic\u2026 Because this community is going through both, I think that it's just more important to share their stories.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Happy to share the \u201cIt\u2019s Different for Us\u201d photo project with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SEOYouth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SEOYouth<\/a> . The project aims to capture and bring awareness to the impact that the pandemic has on marginalized youth. The youth featured are from the south-end of Ottawa; the hardest hit area in the Nation\u2019s Capital. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/p5fYjruin6\">pic.twitter.com\/p5fYjruin6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Faisa Omer (@faisaomer_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/faisaomer_\/status\/1362515075811090432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 18, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cPre-coronavirus, people who are racialized, like myself, we have unique obstacles,\u201d she says, citing the Black Lives Matter protests after the death of George Floyd over the summer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Ibrahim says a goal of the project is to highlight this pre-existing division of racial inequality which has resulted in visible minorities experiencing the pandemic differently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Not only do these communities face systemic barriers as a result of being racialized, but they are being impacted more severely by the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Within the south-east end of Ottawa is the neighbourhood of Ledbury-Heron Gate-Ridgemont. This neighbourhood has the highest proportion of low-income households in the city as well as the most cases of COVID-19 per capita with a cumulative rate of 4,716 confirmed COVID-19 cases for every 100,000 people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">41.2 per cent of households are affected by poverty and 65 per cent of the area\u2019s residents are non-white, according to the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Across the city, disproportionately higher rates of COVID-19 are impacting ethnically diverse neighbourhoods.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"s1\">\u201cPeople\u2019s lives are at stake here,\u201d says Omer. \u201cI don\u2019t think we talk about it enough and this project was just a different way to amplify those voices and start that discussion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Omer says she never thought her artwork could cause so much discussion around a certain issue.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_42550\" style=\"width: 467px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-42550\" class=\"wp-image-42550 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-27-at-10.57.10-AM-457x500.png\" alt=\"A young woman making eye contact with the camera while wearing a mask\" width=\"457\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-27-at-10.57.10-AM-457x500.png 457w, https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-27-at-10.57.10-AM-500x547.png 500w, https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-27-at-10.57.10-AM-197x215.png 197w, https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-27-at-10.57.10-AM.png 598w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 457px) 100vw, 457px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-42550\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the south-east end of Ottawa youth interviewed for the \"It's Different For Us\" project. Photo by Faisa Omer.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\"When it comes to my photography I like to kind of capture the subject while they're telling their story,\" she says. \"Then I take the photo so their eyes convey their emotions at that moment and how they're feeling about the story they're telling.\"<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Like Omer, Ibrahim also notes these communities are facing \u201ca whole other pandemic.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cIt\u2019s a high population of vulnerable communities, low-income families, marginalized communities,\u201d says Ibrahim. \u201cThese are the families and youth that we work directly with and the communities that they\u2019re from are the hardest hit for sure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>She says youth are often an \"easy target\" for blame during the spread of the pandemic while there is no evidence to back this up.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"s1\">She also says these youths in the photo project shared feelings of anxiety for the future as they don\u2019t know what to expect in a pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThey\u2019re really struggling because of the province-wide restrictions and the services and supports that they typically access are no longer there or are quite limited,\u201d says Ibrahim. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThey\u2019re just trying to navigate this new reality but with the right services and support hopefully this project can help guide the discussion for what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Here are Urge Ibrahim and Faisa Omer speaking with CHUO:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre launched a photo project to amplify the voices of the marginalized youth in the south end of Ottawa and shed light on their struggles during the pandemic. The project, called &#8220;It&#8217;s Different For Us,&#8221; was launched on Feb. 18, 2021, and showcases the photographs and quotes from stories told&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":42514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,218,3265],"tags":[5060,284,6604,487],"radio":[1290],"origine":[267,269,1571],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42512"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=42512"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=42512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}