After the Cocoon is an online collection of stories and photographs of Canadian burn survivors and was created by Maria Cristina Laureano as her graduation project for the Creative Communications program at Red River College in Winnipeg, MB, Canada. This project is also with the support of the Canadian Burn Survivors Community and the Mamingwey Burn Survivor Society.

After the Cocoon is named in honour of Mamingwey, which is based in Laureano’s hometown. “Mamingwey” is the Ojibway word for butterfly and is an analogy of the transformation a burn survivor goes through. Similarly, After the Cocoon not only focuses on the individual’s burn injury, but their recovery and their life after.

Laureano chose to focus her project on Canadian burn survivors because of her experiences as a burn survivor (click here for more information about the creator of this project). Through After the Cocoon, she hopes to provide an additional resource for burn survivors,  increase awareness of the different aspects of burn survivors’ lives and to promote existing burn survivor support networks.

All participants featured in this project bravely and graciously volunteered to share their stories in order to help other burn survivors. Laureano did all interviews and photography sessions during the 2012 Canadian Burn Survivors Community’s conference in Calgary, AB and in Laureano’s hometown.

She officially launched her website on February 2013 to coincide with her 25th burn anniversary.

Website launch event poster