These days my work with ChildFund involves getting to the heart of what the organization does through personal video storytelling. I’ve been talking to current and former sponsored children, and their parents, to see how participation in the program leads to transformation in their lives today and puts them on solid ground when they move on to adulthood. Hazel, whose profile is shown above, is a current sponsored child living in rural Mindanao, while Ana Maeh, below, grew up in the program and is now a teacher in Manila. Their stories would be entirely different had not someone from far away made the decision to intervene in their lives. All photographs and video copyright Jake Lyell Photography, LLC 2019. All rights reserved.
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Saving Grace
At the age of thirteen, Grace’s parents fell on hard times. The bride price paid by an older man in the village was incentive for them to withdraw her from school and marry her off. This video is part of a series I recently shot and produced for ChildFund documenting the organization’s work to prevent early marriage in Zambia.
Read MoreWe Have Rights
Children don’t usually get the chance to tell their elected leaders what’s on their mind, especially in the developing world. These bright young ones from Kampala, Uganda, however, were selected by a child rights consortium to appear before their parliament to discuss how violence in their community affects them. Following their appearance, I was able to sit down with them personally so they could share their message with the rest of the world.
Read MoreImpact of Violence on Children in Honduras
Many of Honduras’ children miss out on childhood as a result of the spiraling violence that has become a way of life in the Central American nation. I shot this video as an advocacy tool for ChildFund in its efforts to inform decision makers in Washington and across the world of the sometimes unfathomable dangers children face each day.
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