At its ninth annual week-long high school summer journalism workshop at the University of Connecticut, the Connecticut Health Investigative Team trained its first-ever group of international students – all of them from Riobamba, Ecuador.
The five students – Christina Huisha, (18), Leslie Parra (17), Kevin Barahona (18), Mikaela Romo (16) and Mikaela De La Cruz (16) – had their trip sponsored by the Sister Cities International program. Riobamba is a sister city of Norwalk. Sister Cities International’s goal is to strengthen relationships around the globe based on cultural, educational, informational or trade exchanges.
While at the summer journalism workshop on UConn’s main campus in Storrs, the other campers made them feel welcome. Brian Ruiz, Luis Mila and Danny Ruiz were three C-HIT students who helped translate and explain American customs so the students from Ecuador were never made to feel excluded.
Below is a gallery of images from the students’ experience learning how to be investigative multimedia journalists.
Ephemia Nicolakis
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The Ecuadorian students, from left: Mikaela Romo (16), Kevin Barahona (18), Christina Huisha (18), Mikaela De La Cruz (16) and Leslie Parra (17), learned about photojournalism, reporting, writing, podcasts, social media and video production from a steady parade of professional journalists.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
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Q: Is this your first time visiting the United States?
Leslie Parra: No, this is the second time that I’ve visited the United States. The first time was on vacation with my parents and we went to Miami. Connecticut’s very different from my country: it’s cleaner, bigger, there are more trees. Trees in Riobamba are farther from the city, but here you see them everywhere.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
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Q: How do you think the C-HIT journalism summer camp will help you?
Mikaela Romo: I believe that this program is a good way to learn more about journalism, communication, and how to relay information to different people.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
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Q:Why did you want to come to this journalism program instead of any other?
Kevin: It’s something that I’ve been passionate about since I was younger. This program coincides with law a lot, and in my hometown, that’s something I’ve always loved to study. I really want to study here at UConn, because it’s one of the best in the United States.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
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Q: How do you hope to apply what you learn here in your future?
Christina Huisha: I’ve learned there are so many diverse cultures and people here. There’s so many forms that people can communicate in. Journalists have a goal to always spread the truth – and I hope that I can take the excellent communication skills I learned here to spread the message effectively back in my town.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
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Q: What do you want to gain from this program, and how do you plan on using that in the future?
Mikaela De La Cruz: It’s given me insight into what I would like to study. I have two years left of high school, and it’s an opportunity to help me see what I like and don’t like. So far, I think this is the right track for my future.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
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Danny Ruiz, 16, of Waterbury, who was born in Puerto Rico and speaks Spanish, offered his help immediately when Maricarmen Godoy, a chaperone for the Ecuadorian students and a freelance editor for La Voz Hispana asked him to make the Ecuadorian students feel welcome.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
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Brian Ruiz, 17, of New Haven, noticed the Ecuadorian students were uncomfortable with having entire conversations in English and didn’t hesitate to switch into Spanish to ease their nerves.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
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Having arrived at C-HIT's high school journalism camp at UConn a day early, Luis Mila, 17 of Miami, Florida, got to meet the students beforehand and was pleased to see the Ecuadorian students’ excitement and relief when he spoke to them in Spanish.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
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Now in its ninth year, the C-HIT Summer Multimedia Workshops provide select high school students with the opportunity to develop investigative reporting, video and digital journalism skills in a unique learning environment led by distinguished local and national journalists. Students stay on UConn's main campus in Storrs for a week, helping prepare them for life at college.
Photo by Ephemia Nicolakis
Luis Mila is a student at Miami Lakes Educational Center, Florida.
Ephemia Nicolakis from Woodbridge is a student at Amity Regional High School.