University student Michaela Corr’s senior project was a global endeavor.
Corr interned at Womenspace in Eugene, a center for survivors of domestic violence, before spending three months interning at the Women’s Aid Organisation of Malaysia. The product of Corr’s internships, a photo exhibit titled “Through the Eyes of a Child,” was highlighted in the EMU Fir Room on Saturday night. It showcased the work of children ages 8 to 18, all survivors of domestic violence.
Half of the photographs were taken by children at Womenspace, while the other half were taken by children at the Women’s Aid Organization of Malaysia.
Womenspace provides emergency shelter, transitional programs and legal advocacy for survivors of domestic violence, according to the agency’s Web site. The Women’s Aid Organisation of Malaysia, located in Kuala Lumpur, provides counseling and refuge to victims of domestic violence. The children are given a home and support system at WAO, according to its Web site.
The photo exhibit was part of an art therapy project Corr did while interning with
both organizations.
“Using art as a form of therapy allows kids to have tangible evidence of something they’re feeling,” Corr said. “If they take a photo of something they love, they have that photo. They can keep it forever. It will always remind them of that experience.”
For Corr, photography helped break down communication barriers for her and the children. Many of the children in Eugene and Malaysia did not speak English.
“You’d be surprised how much body language does the talking for you. It’s not even something that I think about,” she said. “You just become close with (the children) by being with them every day.”
Photography as a form of therapy helped the children express their emotions and allowed them to have tangible evidence of what they were feeling, Corr said.
“Part of what I wanted them to do was give them a positive reaction to their experiences, and those photographs helped with that,” she said. “Hopefully, eventually, I want to bring awareness to the effects domestic violence has on kids, and that they can be profoundly affected by it, especially because they’re at a developmental phase in their lives.”
Domestic violence is classified as abusive treatment of a partner, child or family member that occurs in the home, according to the Web site, domesticviolence.org. This abuse can be verbal, physical, emotional, psychological or sexual.
Corr said her experience interning in Malaysia helped her see the similarities between cultures.
“It was kind of the opposite with culture shock because I realized their culture isn’t as different as I expected,” she said.
One of Corr’s goals is to bring attention to the organizations she interned with. She said she wants to bring donors to their Web sites.
Corr is majoring in family and human services and minoring in women’s and gender studies. After college, she would like to do counseling and psychology work with children.
Corr said University students should take the opportunity to intern abroad instead of study abroad. Interning abroad at a foreign workplace allows students to immerse themselves in the culture, she said.
“I would encourage people to take on tasks they don’t think that they can accomplish and to go do that alone,” she said. “I went by myself and I think that opened up the door for me to experience a lot more because I didn’t have a crutch to lean on.”
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