Photo contest leads to a global connection
April 18, 2024 -They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and for one Lakewood resident, taking pictures of her hometown parks grew into an unexpected global connection.
Hue Tu (pronounced Way To), who moved to Lakewood 30 years ago as part of her company’s relocation, started taking pictures in Lakewood parks when the city launched a photo contest for its Your Money at Work project, which was designed to show all the ways the city funds parks and open space. For 10 months between October 2022 and December 2023, the project featured a specific park or improvement each month and asked residents to submit their best photo of it on the website, making them eligible to win a prize package that included the city’s 50th anniversary book signed by the mayor, free recreation passes and reusable shopping bags.
Tu was a prolific participant, submitting a photo nearly every month and winning several times.
“I really came to appreciate Lakewood’s vast open space during the pandemic and spent a lot of time discovering places near and dear to my heart,” Tu said. “This contest was a natural progression to what I was already doing and provided a pathway to find something ‘new’ in my hood.”
The stories she also submitted with her photos were heartfelt. One month featured the alternative communication board for those with speech difficulties to allow children with different abilities to play together at Carmody Park’s universal playground. With her photo titled “Embracing Diversity,” she wrote, “How lucky are we as residents of Lakewood where we are all accepted for our diverse abilities!”
With another photo, she wrote, “In the middle of our neighborhood, we can retreat to a place of quiet serenity where time is on hold for a brief moment. Time to inhale deeply and take in all that is good for us. At Cottage Park, we can find our balance, our inner peace, and what really centers us all.”
She said that she didn’t have a goal for participating in the monthly photo contests other than to discover and enjoy her city. But she said, “As time went on, I did become inspired by urban park designs and landscapes, garden design, etc.”
Tu’s meaningful participation in the project, however, produced a challenge. Her prize packages were becoming redundant. How many copies of Lakewood’s 50th anniversary book could one resident want or need? It turns out having lots of books is exactly what Tu needed.
For several years, she has participated in an immersion program that is part of her Spanish class, and it has taken her to southern Mexico to learn about the Mayan culture, lands and way of life.
“Libraries that loan out books are not common in the area of Mexico where I spent time. Access to English books is rare,” she said. Because of that, the group brings books and school supplies to donate to the villages. “The places where we donate are usually very remote villages where they have to take public transport for a few hours to get to a store that sells school supplies.”
Subsistence farming remains the main source of income for those living in these villages, where children grow up to usually “do what their parents or grandparents have always done.” Knowing and being able to speak English is becoming a powerful tool as tourism and jobs with companies in the area offer more pay and other options. She said the group hopes to inspire children to continue their education and learn about a wide array of opportunities they can consider for their lives.
Tu’s story of her work in Mexico inspired city staff to donate dozens of children’s books for her to take on her next trip, including a second copy of Lakewood’s 50th anniversary book signed by the mayor. Staff also provided a gift card so that she could buy school supplies when she got there.
“The school supplies and books really made an impact on the children and their parents and brought smiles ear to ear,” she said. “They were screaming with joy and couldn’t believe that our big bus of foreigners came all the way to their remote village just to give them the gifts. They thanked us in both Spanish and Maya languages.”
What began as a straightforward photo contest to engage Lakewood residents with their local parks took a different path into a remote part of Mexico still alive with the Mayan culture.
“If we can help to inspire others to dream a little bit larger, why not?” she said.