Poverty: Our Voices, Our ViewsA PhotoVoice project by

North End Winnipeg Women

Presented by Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence and the

North End Women’s Centre

Gina 2005Women spend so much money on their hair and makeup and to be skinny. And they don’t change inside.

Gina 2005You know in my country, Chile, we thought Canada was paradise – we would have everything. Never in my imagination did I think we have poor people in Canada. I came to Canada and I changed my mind, because it was so difficult for me.

Gina 2005For me I see the picture, this is the big company - society. But, what I see here is some light. We have to fight for our way. Why do we have to be poor?

Gina 2005I see more poor people here than I see in my country -a poor country.

Gina 2005We never imagined it with our grandparents; to be in a nursing home. All the time – at home all together – that is so precious. We are very proud of them.And here in Canada, I don’t know.

“Exposed Broken Old Tree”

Lisa Aymont-Hunter 2005

I know money isn’t the most important thing, but I know it is the root cause for a lot of dis-ease, dis-harmony, and

social problems. I’m not a mathematician, but come on! Don’t wait until we

are sick, and scared and alone.

“Speaking Out for the Missing Women” Lisa Aymont-Hunter 2005

You can see “Have you seen this girl”. It’s a picture of a beautiful girl, smiling. And she’s missing. Me as a woman thinking: “Will there come a time when my picture is up?” I don’t think the rape

and murder of women is about beauty or youth- it’s about power.

Lisa Aymont-Hunter 2005Some of these homes used to be really beautiful. And I have to think, “What does it tell us we’re worth?” I think, “How does an organism

thrive, when its environment is toxic”?

Lisa Aymont-Hunter 2005Coming up the sidewalk is a man pushing his shopping cart with all his

worldly possessions. If we put people before profits, this man would not have to depend on living in a shopping cart. That says it all to me.

“Women are not Garbage” Lisa Aymont-Hunter 2005

Another one of our community women was

murdered and her body was disposed of in a BFI bin. And it really touched, hurt, struck

a deep cord in all of us as women… that she was

thrown away like garbage. I’ve heard from elders that

red is the colour of spirit, that the spirits like that colour. And I can’t help but wonder

how being poor puts us more at risk for violence.

L.M. Champagne 2005

An attempt at security and protection. Keeping the bad out or keeping the bad in? Who is safe in the cycle of poverty?

L.M. Champagne 2005No matter what you pile on me, I’m still going to see the light; I’m

going to get through. Our system has a hole running through it with many people piled on top of it keeping it there.

L.M. Champagne 2005

“Yeah, you can cut me off, but it doesn’t matter, because I

am still growing, and I am still healthy, and no matter where you cut me off I’m going to

keep growing”. And so many women in my community

remind me of this, because they keep going and growing

and they get cut off that blatantly.

L.M. Champagne 2005

There is no place for a garden, so this is their flower garden. I think they are inside and this is how they feel…I look fine on the outside, but I’m wilting on the inside because there is no light coming through. I need

light to grow inside and outside but I cannot afford a place with windows.

L.M. Champagne 2005The stronger the better, you get the first pick…Here the big birds fly high,

have more strength because they did not have to fight for food. You should not have to be stronger or better to get something to eat or fly high.

Shosana Funk 2005

To me this picture represents stereotyping. It looks like you’re standing on the outside looking in,

and yeah, it does look daunting. But just looking in, and making judgments,

is just reinforcing these negative stereotypes. If you actually went in, you’d see that sure it might be scary sometimes, just like it is

everywhere. Underneath it all we’re all just regular

people.

Shosana Funk 2005Behind the glass you can sort of see the mannequin, the idea of

the “real woman”. And then you see the reality- the real people at the bus stop, who can’t afford to shop there. It’s like they’re

mocking us.

Shosana Funk 2005She embodies the things that we’re fighting against and working towards.

Her hands are so small and frail looking. But she is strong and can get through anything; she is still full of life. This could be any woman.

Shosana Funk 2005

He is an able, healthy strong man, and he’s having trouble waking. But, the majority of

people -the young, the elderly, the disabled, the parents with young children, the poor who can’t afford boots – are not going to be able to make it

through without falling. I think this picture shows where the priorities of the city really are.

Shosana Funk 2005This is the world, full of beauty and diversity- plants, animals and people. The sun is shining down reminding us that things

will be ok. We can make changes, but we have to work together.

Suzanne McLeod-Chartrand 2005You can’t get in, you can’t get out. That’s where we’re at with

poverty right now – you can’t get in, you can’t get out; you’re stuck. Now, if they would take this gate down, it probably would mean a lot

more. And take the “closed” sign for “open”.

Suzanne McLeod-Chartrand “If These Stairs Could Talk What Nightmares would they Share?” 2005

Because if these stairs could talk, how much pain would they be able to tell us they’ve endured? But when you re-do something, it’s just hidden, it’s not getting to the source of the problem – poverty. That’s the issue.

Suzanne McLeod-Chartrand 2005I hope that we would all, as women, do something positive so that the

children will rise up to be strong eagles. Right now, she’s a bald eagle, but she will have feathers. Yep, she’s a little bald eagle, but one day she will be

an eagle and she will fly and carry on the work that I’ve started.

Suzanne McLeod-Chartrand 2005

There are no brownie points for being poor.We must change the fact that 60% of Aboriginal women are living in

poverty. It has to. The monster of poverty has knocked at my door and I say “Bring it on,” because I am educated and my friends are with me.

Suzanne McLeod-Chartrand 2005I’m thinking, as women, “Do we feel alive? Do we feel empowered?” No.

So, we need to look at the root problems. The tree grows because the roots are healthy. If you’re not healthy, you won’t feel alive; you won’t feel

empowered. You’ll feel disgraced and you’ll feel hopeless.

Valerie Charles 2005

I feel like the system keeps you there. I’d like to be one of those people considering all of the things that I’ve been

through that I tend to want to carry the world on my shoulders. I want everybody to live in peace and harmony. I don’t want anybody to go

through anymore pain and suffering because I went through it. Money and greed is not going to feed my future generation.

Valerie Charles 2005Many people have to resort to live in run-down hotels because landlords look down on certain individuals. Untrustworthy – because of evictions, or the way they dress, or unemployment. So, we’re discriminated against

in that way.

Valerie Charles 2005There aren’t really many things for our youth to do out there, because obviously things come with money and some of us can’t provide. It’s

too bad that there’s nowhere for them to go.

Valerie Charles 2005It just looks lonely,

abandoned. There’s nothing there. It’s just like a nuclear

war had happened and everything was wiped out. And for me it seems that’s

what people are going through. We’re slowly dying off in the streets because of

alcohol and abuse, discrimination – there’s so

many different things.

Valerie Charles 2005It was ironic because this is a path. It shows a sense of

loneliness, nowhere to go and obviously no support. To me, it was a very lonely place of unworthiness.