In their own words

Jennifer Huddleston Ditona, Truth intern

After a long morning of chemotherapy, Juan takes a moment to rest.

When I was offered the opportunity to come to Mexico as the intern for Truth With a Camera I was elated. I have always known in my heart that I wanted my photographs to make a difference, to stop people and make them look at the world around us that is to often ignored.

I knew with the intern position that I would not only be working with a group of photographers who have similar interests but who would also bring their experiences to this workshop and ultimately push me even more to pursue my dream.

When I began planning for my trip, I knew that I wanted to work with children who are living with health issues. I am a diabetic and a survivor of tuberculosis. I spent most of my childhood going in and out of doctors’ waiting rooms, emergency rooms and hospitals rooms.

I began to know the staff at my local hospital and even considered some of them like family members. They would come in and play with me everyday. At other times, they would just sit with my parents and me helping to ease our pain. I feel like this is what I need to give back to other children who are going through similar childhood experiences.

The day I was able to spend with Juan Ramone, a 4 year-old living with bone cancer, is exactly what I had hoped for. He is a child who is dealing with challenges that no one should ever have to go through but yet he is still a child and plays like a child should. I took a game of connect four into the hospital with me that day and we sat and played while he received his chemotherapy. It was my way of helping to ease his mind from the pain going through his body and to give him the chance to be the child he is, instead of just a patient.

Juan brought back all of my childhood memories of anger at the people forcing medicines into me, sadness from feeling stuck in a hospital on a beautiful day and the happiness I would eventually feel towards my family and my doctors once I was better and able to go home. When it was time for me to leave him in the hospital at the end of the day, it was hard for me to walk out the door knowing what it feels like to be in his shoes. I left the Connect Four game with him to continue playing and I took a little piece of Juan with me in my heart.

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