Minnesota Nursing magazine (Fall/Winter 2011) - School of Nursing ...

health promotion
Every Saturday for eight weeks, 12-year-old Kaily Ceballos and
her mother Norma Gaona, along with four other parent-adolescent
pairs, gathered at the El Colegio Charter School in
south Minneapolis where they reviewed and discussed their
assignments to document, through photos, the impact of
immigration on their lives.
Increasingly, their brother and son Jonathan Ceballos, who works
at El Colegio, began to notice changes in the mother-daughter
relationship. “They both put aside time for this,” he says. “It was a
good opportunity for them to work together, and I could see my
sister and mother getting closer.”
Strengthening the bonds between Latina mothers and
daughters is the kind of outcome that helps demonstrate
the benefits of Project Wings programs, currently involving
communities in Minnesota and Mexico. Carolyn Garcia, PhD, MPH,
RN, assistant professor, at the University of Minnesota School of
Nursing, and Rosa Maria Aguilera, researcher from the National
Institute of Psychiatry in Mexico serve as co-principal investigators
for the bi-national project.
the power of voice
Through Project Wings, Garcia and Aguilera are applying an artsbased
program to address some age-old dilemmas—improving the
connections among adolescents and family members and offering
community members who may lack other such channels a new way
to voice their concerns.
For several years, Garcia had looked to develop a project with
photovoice, a process where a group uses photography in a
structured way to express their voice on an issue of concern and in
some cases influence policy. In 2009, after building a relationship
with El Colegio, she launched a pilot photovoice project at the
school with the goal of promoting healthier relationships between
Latina mothers and daughters. Those stronger bonds, in turn,
help enhance the overall health of Latina girls, a population
disproportionately at risk for serious mental health issues, including
depression and suicide.
“Photovoice offers an opportunity not only to focus on
relationships with families, but also with other people in the
community,” says Garcia. “You can see changes at the individual
level and changes between family members. At another level,
it can inform policy.”
Blanca Raniolo-Olivares, director of community outreach
and parent engagement at El Colegio, helped recruit families
for the pilot and for Project Wings. An enthusiastic supporter of
Kally Ceballos (right) and her mother Norma Gaona work on their poster entitled
“Anoranza” which means a sense of nostalgia missing their home country and
family members, for a photovoice exhibit held at El Colegio Charter School.
photovoice, she was co-facilitator for the Project Wings sessions and
saw firsthand the powerful discussions that took place.
“When one of the parents described emotional memories, it was
sad and happy at the same time,” she says. “Everyone was learning
from each other.”
expression in minnesota & mexico
In the fall 2010 Project Wings group, the five adolescent-parent
pairs shared their experiences as Latino immigrants through the
photos that they took. Their photos revealed several themes. The
importance of family values and education were emphasized.
Families also shared a desire to keep their traditions, culture, beliefs,
and customs alive. The group presented their photos during a
public exhibition at the school that attracted more than 50 families,
community members, and the Spanish-speaking media.
Photovoice participants in Mexico documented the struggles
of families with members who emigrate to the U.S., including
the “feelings of loneliness, nostalgia, and the fear of family
disintegration,” says Aguilera. “The project both helps define the
main problems of the community, including generational conflicts
14 minnesota nursing | nursing.umn.edu/magazine