February 2015

Inside Lensational
Member of the week: Umair Jamal
February 26, 2015

Happy Thursday every one! It’s almost to the weekend and we hope that you are having a great week so far. Our member of the week is Umair Jamal, who is a dedicated member on our Pakistan Programme Team. Let’s see what he thinks about Lensational:

Lensational speaks to me because of its distinctive character: highlighting women issues through camera lens, where each picture taken has a life and story in it. It doesn’t just accentuate various women issues from the underdeveloped world; rather it empowers them by giving them an opportunity to record their stories and others around them. This is astounding; and this is what fascinates me.
Thank you so much Umair! Are you inspired by the initiative? Want to join our volunteering team? Email us at info@lensational.org to start today! We are also doing a live crowd-funding event in London on March 3rd, 2015. Be sure to check that out too!

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Press & Awards
Feature in major Dutch newspaper
February 21, 2015

Thanks to the support of Hivos, Lensational got featured in one of the largest newspaper in the Netherlands – Volkskrant (p.29). The photo shows our photography workshop in the urban slums of Johor Town, Lahore in summer 2013.

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Inside Lensational
Member of the Week: Patricia Shyr
February 19, 2015

We are proud to introduce the new initiative: member of the week! We will introduce our diverse faces to dear supporters and show you why we love volunteering at Lensational! Our first member of the week is Patricia Shyr, our Marketing Manager and here’s her self-reflection:

“As far as the vision of Lensational is concerned, I am firmly convinced that economic empowerment and freedom of expression are two essential keys for women to unlock the door of inequality. I have a dream, which is making the world a better and equal place to live. Lensational provides me the platform to devote myself to realizing my dream. ”

What do you think about Lensational? Interested in volunteering with us? Send us an email at info@lensational.org

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Press & Awards
Winner of Hivos Social Innovation Award
February 8, 2015

On 5 February 2015, Lensational was announced as the winner in the Hivos Social Innovation Award in Amsterdam. Bonnie, our co-founder and Director, had the honour to receive the award from Manuela Monteiro, former Director of Hivos, who advocates for the need for humanist values in international development. The prize consists of a € 5,000 prize and a coaching trajectory worth € 10,000 to develop the idea into a prototype.

Hivos Social Innovation Award is a one-of-a-kind competition organised by Hivos, a Dutch international development organisation that has reached 22.2 million in 26 countries. The competition kicked off on 15 October 2014. By the end of the submission round, Hivos received nearly 400 innovations from 61 countries, out of which 20 semi-finalists were selected based on more than 150,000 votes and Hivos’ own selection. The semi-finalists participated in the Hivos Learning Community to share knowledge, learn from international speakers and work in groups to complete their submissions for the finals. After a jury selection, six of the semi-finalists were invited to Amsterdam.

The finalists stayed in Amsterdam for three days:

Day 1: coach training from Beth Susanne, seasoned international pitch coach
Day 2: meeting with jury, including Manuela Monteiro, Valerie Frissen and Sam Gichuru; visit to Vandejong
Day 3: visit to Kennisland and Award Ceremony
Thanks to Hivos and Kennisland, the three days have been extremely fruitful for us to take the ventures to the next level. Lensational was also able to learn from other finalists, coming from Sri Lanka, Uganada, Malawi, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and build friendships that will last beyond the competition.

Stay tuned to our website for updates on our collaboration with Hivos!

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