Seeing New York City through a camera lens was a therapeutic experience for 32-year-old Mamadou, a victim of political persecution in the Ivory Coast.
He is one of several clients at Elmhurst Hospital’s Libertas Center for Human Rights taking part in a “photovoice project” designed to empower victims of torture and persecution.
Their work was recently unveiled at the Queens hospital.
Mamadou, who asked the Daily News to withhold his last name, focused on images of the school where he learned English, a woman who helped him during his lonely first days in New York and even a pigeon, which reminded him of an incident in his homeland.
“A lot of our clients have gone through trauma,” said Elizabeth McInnes, a case manager at the center’s Survivors of Torture program. “This is a way to give them a voice when that voice was once taken away.”
The center treats physical and emotional scars, and helps victims start a new life by guiding them as they apply for political asylum.
Clients spent months sharing stories and working on their photo subjects. It also reduced the social isolation many survivors feel when they come to the U.S., McInnes said.
“My favorite part was meeting a lot of other people,” Mamadou said through a translator. “This is a good place for me.”
