An American media expert is in the country helping to develop media literacy through seminars and workshops in Samoa.

Damaso Reyes, who was invited by the U.S. Embassy to Samoa, arrived on Wednesday and has been busy spreading the word on news literacy education, how to drive civic engagement through news literacy, digital verification and evaluating the quality of standards-based journalism.

He has also been offering expert tips on photography.

"I grew up in a very poor neighborhood and I developed my profession with the little resources I had,” he said during one of the sessions he facilitated.

“I have come this far because I worked with determination."

Mr. Reyes presence in Samoa was welcomed by many people who had the chance to listen and benefit from the skills he had to offer.

He comes highly qualified.

According to his information provided by the U.S. Embassy in Samoa, his work has appeared in publications including: The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Far Eastern Economic Review, New York magazine, Vanity Fair Germany, Der Spiegel and Time Asia.

Previous assignments and projects have taken him to countries including Rwanda, Iraq, Indonesia, Tanzania and throughout the United States.

His photography work have also featured in the monograph Black: A Celebration of a Culture and the book Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers go to War.

He is the recipient of several awards and fellowships including a Fulbright and Arthur F. Burns Fellowship and two first place awards for international reporting from the New York Association of Black Journalists.

He is also a fellow at the World Policy Institute in New York, focusing on the European Union and migrations issues.

Mr. Reyes is scheduled to return to the United States on Saturday.