Recently for MCC and ChildFund… faces from Cape Verde and Ethiopia.
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Blog
Hard Labor
Child labor was largely stamped out in the US 100 years ago, but across the globe more than 160 million children are still involved in the practice. Today we have the opportunity to eradicate it completely. What steps will we take?
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The Call to Heal
The health care industry in the USA is one of the most lucrative, in-demand career fields one could enter; so much so that many doctors and nurses from the developing world leave their home countries seeking work in the US or other places where higher wages can be found.
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Faces of Drought
Last month I traveled to far northern Kenya to document the grueling impact of the current drought on children and families for ChildFund. Most of the stories I captured were of extreme need – stories that I hope will stir hearts and open pocketbooks in order to bring relief to those attempting to endure the current food crisis.
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Breaking gender barriers in Jordan
My latest video for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US international aid agency , tells the story of Ra’eda, who is one of the first female plumbers in Jordan. Here Ra’eda explains how she went from being ridiculed for her chosen profession to becoming an in-demand professional.
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Fair trade honey harvesters in Nicaragua
Oh honey, where is thy sting? I shot these in Cerro Negro for fair trade financier Shared Interest.
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City of Churches
While on assignment in Nicaragua earlier this month, I got a chance to spend the afternoon in Léon, the City of Churches. Léon is a bastion of Roman Catholic fervor, and its historic colonial temples date back as far as the early 16th century. I first visited Léon ten years ago, but was happy this time to see many of these churches in an improved state of repair. All photographs Copyright 2017 Jake Lyell Photography.
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Family Reunion
“We believe the family is the best place for every child.” This quote from a social worker narrating the video below is the central theme of the DOVCU program, which is implemented by ChildFund in Uganda and funded by USAID. Parents or family members who struggle through grinding poverty often feel that the best solution is to give their children up to an institution – an orphanage or children’s home – in hopes of a better life for them. The reality is that this often results in children growing up without culture and community and makes them more vulnerable to child trafficking or living on the streets. Furthermore, the standard of living in such institutions is seldom better. The Deinstitutionalization of Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Uganda program seeks to strengthen the livelihoods of families so that breaking apart the family is unnecessary. It also works to bring separated families back together again. I recently shot and produced these three short […]
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