Photographer Brendan Bannon and journalist Mike Pflanz are working on a photojournalism project called Daily Dispatches, based in Nairobi, Kenya to create connections across the world and give students a unique learning opportunity.

Until 30, they plan to produce a photo essay everyday on a different subject in Nairobi and send it to select colleges to print the photo essays and display them on campus.

Lee Ibarra, a photography student at BC, is in charge of printing the photo essays every day and finding a place to display them.

Printing the panel is a quick process for Ibarra and not very costly for the school.

“All we have to pay for is the ink and prints,” said Ibarra.

“He [Bannon] sends them already pre-laid out for us just to print, he’s put a lot of time into it and we’ve been doing test images at the beginning of the month and test prints to make sure everything looks good. We’ve been in co-operation with him, he’s basically laid it all out for us,” said Ibarra.

The printing is easy for Ibarra but finding a place is a little more difficult.

Right now the photo essays are in the glass display in the hallway of the Fine Arts building in between rooms nine and 10.

However, there won’t be enough space for all the panels, each photo essay is about 16 x 22 inches and Bannon sends one to three panels a day for each photo essay.

Another downside to the panels being in the Fine Arts building is that many students don’t get to see the panels.

“I just want to put the panels in a place where students can interact with it because I think it’s a great project and the images are just amazing. Mike does a really good job writing, I enjoy reading the stories everyday,” said Ibarra.

For the schools who don’t receive the photo essays on campus or students who do or don’t see them in the FA building and have questions about the photo essays, they can visit Daily Dispatch websites at www.dailydispatches.com.

Bannon and Pflanz have a blog that is updated consistently.

It has the same information as the printed panels but the advantage of the Daily Dispatches blog, Twitter, and Facebook is that anyone can go on the sites and ask questions and Bannon or Pflanz will respond promptly.

“The main idea I want to get out and he [Bannon] wants to get out to the students is that it’s for you guys, this project is for the students and only for the students,” said Ibarra.

Bannon and Pflanz want students to log on their websites and interact with them. They also encourage students to ask questions about anything, from photography, to the subject or culture.

“They want to know that people are enjoying what they’re doing and all their work isn’t going to waste.

“Getting good feedback really boosts them, especially because they’re doing it everyday, they need that. They also want to know what’s working and what’s not working,” said Ibarra.

Bannon and Pflanz also want the photo essays to be used by the instructors to give out assignments or spark debates in the classrooms.

Not all colleges get to have this project donated to their campus.

Buffalo State College and St. Bonaventure University are the two colleges beside BC to receive the donations.

“I’m proud and excited that our school and students have the chance to interact and be a part of this project,” said Ibarra.