Effective Community Listening: A Case Study on Photovoice in Rural Nicaragua

Abstract

Before beginning a service learning project, students and researchers must listen to the communities with whom they intend to work. By engaging in practical community listening activities, researchers can better understand local contexts and effectively solicit a community’s development needs. Photovoice is a very simple method that can be applied in service learning projects to help researchers understand the realities associated with their partner community. For service learning projects in unfamiliar settings, researchers should work closely with an experienced partner organization that understands a given community’s customs and culture. Applying Photovoice to development projects will facilitate problem identification, promote community empowerment, and assist in developing mutually-beneficial community partnerships. Photovoice creates a platform within a community for candid discussion about relevant issues, challenges, and needs for community-based development. In addition to improving the sustainability of service learning community partnerships, these activities enhance the resiliency of the projects that develop through community empowerment. This article outlines the significance of community listening in service learning projects, and it provides a case study of the Photovoice method that student researchers used when engaging with a rural Nicaraguan community.