The “Club de Chicas” cruise into the photography workshop at the Women’s Empowerment Centre at Minga Lodge in the Amazon. From the moment the 10 girls were picked up from their community in Kanambu, it’s all giggles. The recently formed club provides leadership workshops to motivate girls to finish high school. But they’ve never done a photo assignment before. They’re psyched.

The girls were given a camera and 36 hours. After some minor technical training, they created the shot list. All the photos in this story were taken by the girls themselves. After taking the photographs, they also wrote explanations of their favourite images. Translated from Spanish to English, all quoted text gives you a glimpse into the girl behind the lens.

“This was a really fun activity, as it gave me the chance to express myself and be myself. Thalia is 15 years old, documenting the day-to-day. Motorized canoe is a common form of transport for these girls. They’re growing up in the basin of the Amazon Rainforest, close to the Napo River. This also means access to everyday essentials, like clean water or employment opportunities, can be limited or non-existent.

Clean water is not something the girls are growing up with—yet, as Nayeli shows us. This stream cuts through the community and families pipe this water directly to their houses—no filtration system, no clean water. But WE is in the process of building a new water project in Kanambu. First, the system will provide clean water to the school campus. After that, it will be connected to the homes.

This is Nayeli’s picture, but as Girls’ Club member Heidy explains: “This is where we get our water from. We use it to drink or cook. We don’t have clean water, this is just water that comes from a tank through a pipe.” It’s currently the same for each household.

“This is the picture of the project in which WE is working with us: the drinking fountain, so that we, the students, may have good health. The support WE gives is for everyone and we are proud to have them in our community.”

The Kanambu school is one of the largest schools that WE partners with in the Amazon, as it’s both a primary school and a high school, with over 350 students. Joselyn is one of the youngest in the Girls’ Club, at 13 years old, but she’s in her last year of primary. Her goal? To graduate high school.

“I took this picture because this is the time when we are together studying. This is during accounting class and I like that subject a lot.”

“I like writing, I like writing poetry and stories, but I’m not ready to share them.”

“I wanted to go to the photography workshop because it sounded fun and I wanted to learn something new; learn how to take a picture and make a story.”

“They are part of the same Girls’ Club and good friends. They are the friends I trust the most and the ones I’ve shared the most with.” After taking photographs at school, the girls took the cameras home to document life outside the classroom.

“I chose this because it is a picture of my father. He is a person whom I admire a lot, he sustains our family and I adore him.”

“My brothers, my mom and my sister, they’re all my happiness, I don’t know any other way to say it. They’re my family and I can trust them.” Thalia’s mom runs a local restaurant—a one-table establishment, steps from the main road. Her dad is a construction foreman. Most people in the area work in either construction or farming.

“I felt happy to be able to express myself with photos—the place where I come from, where I study and most of all how I live in my house. Heidy holds up a cacao pod—the natural goodness that becomes chocolate. Cacao farming is popular on small farms in the Amazon, but household farms often lack the opportunity to reach a bigger market and get a better wage.

“This cacao is from the area. It helps us with our economy. We can sell it so that we can later invest or buy something we need like food and education.” WE is starting a training program with farmers, so they can learn about different varieties of cacao and how to get a fair wage for their product. Household income is often the biggest roadblock for girls furthering their education.

Helping on the family farm after school is common. Andrea photographs her younger sister, assisting with the cacao harvest.

“This is my mom. My mom is doing a job that is not so easy. She is making a rope out of a plant that’s called ‘pita.’ It has a long leaf with spikes. To make this rope you cut out the spikes and then you need a piece of wood that is slippery, like, for example, balsa wood. Then you tie the leaf to the wood piece and you scrape it with another smaller piece of wood that’s not too sharp. Women like Andrea’s mom weave handicrafts out of the fibre they create—including shigras (Quechuan purses) sold with ME to WE Artisans. Women also use the material to weave fishing nets, hammocks and local dresses.

“I live with my grandparents. Since I was three years old. I have a great relationship to my grandma and grandpa.” Liz, 15, photographs her grandfather working on a woodworking project.

“It is hard as a girl to see that boys have more permission to go out to play. Girls need to stay at home doing the chores of the house.”What’s expected of a girl and what’s expected of a boy continue to fit mainstream gender stereotypes. The girls navigate this with an acute desire to keep the important traditions of their culture alive, while not being held back because of gender.

“I like that my grandma teaches me about how they used to make things. We are losing our traditions, but she tries to teach them to me. She teaches me about the typical food of our ancestors, the Quechuan dances and also the drinks, like chicha.”

“When my dad takes us to my grandma’s house, I always get good advice from her. I sit to talk with her and we talk about the family and she gives us advice.”

“This is my pet. We love her very much, but we didn’t give her a name. She lives with us in the house. I wanted to take her picture to show people my pet.” The photos showed it wasn’t just people who were loved at home—a couple of friendly family pets also made appearances.

“This is my pet that I found in a cave. There are two of them, one male and one female, and they are adorable.” This is called an agouti—a rodent found in South America that’s not known for being a pet. But don’t tell that to Marjorie.