Karla Struyk is 26 years old and lives with a disability known as Down syndrome. She is involved with many different organizations in the community of Huntsville. Struyk is an inspiration to others with disabilities and is always working a making her dreams and goals happen, as her mother Cathy Foyston would say, “ Turn lemons into lemonade and when you have dreams, figure out how to make them come true.”
During my time at Loyalist college I was given an assignment in my documentary class to photograph a subject or group that represented belonging. I connected with a group of people with various disabilities in Muskoka and with the help from Community Living I was able to find two great subjects. Karla Struyk and John Rowntree.
Excitement, discovery, challenges, friendships and overall one of the greatest times of my life. March 2008 marked a month that I will never forget. I traveled to Ecuador for just under three weeks with a group of students from my high school. After spending two days in Quito we then traveled six hours by bus into the Andes mountains, to a remote village where we started construction on a new school. These are just a few shots from my time there.
