children Archives - Page 2 of 7

Post Tagged with: "children"

Family Reunion

January 27, 2017

“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[…]

Smiles from Timor-Leste

November 28, 2016

One thing I love about working with ChildFund is the bit of extra time they sometimes allow me to focus my lens on a country’s culture and daily life. In addition to shooting a few videos recently for the organization in Timor-Leste, I also shot these photographs, which give bit of insight into the country’s people and the terrain that is their home. Special emphasis was also placed on the beautiful practice of traditional Timorese weaving, seen below, which is a livelihood for many women on the island.

Exit Strategy

November 6, 2016

For kids growing up in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, education is the only hope of escaping a seemingly hopeless situation. This video was shot for ChildFund’s annual Small Voices, Big Dreams survey, which asks children their thoughts on critical issues affecting them. This year’s theme is education. I’ll be showing it to my daughter every time she complains about having to go to school.

Wisdom from Wisdom

August 6, 2016

The renovation of a school in rural Zambia by ChildFund has had an incredible domino effect in the community, impacting everything from teacher morale to child marriage. Instructor extraordinaire, Wisdom Chanda, tells us how a bricks and mortar makeover can go a long way towards impacting education and child rights.

Married at Fifteen

July 12, 2016

A number of video stories I recently produced for ChildFund in Zambia deal with child marriage or the prevention thereof. Child protection is a hallmark of the organization’s programming, but especially so in Zambia where the practice of child marriage is yet to be eradicated.

What We Hear

July 2, 2016

What we hear is the sound of metal scraping metal. It was that deliberate, unsettling sound that echoed across the compound of this remote village in Luangwa District, Zambia and drew me to discover its source. What we see is a three year old boy scavenging for every morsel of charred and hardened cornmeal leftover from his neighbor’s cookware in a vain attempt to quell his hunger. As I frame this stark picture I’m reminded of an occasion when I myself scraped a bowl with such vigor. I’m reminded of the times growing up when my mom made cake or chocolate chip cookies and I relished the sweet remains in the mixing bowl as the batter baked in the oven and the sweet aroma filled the house. The comparison of pleasant childhood memories and the dismal situation before me is a vicious reminder of the reality at hand, the reality[…]

This is how We Play in Zambia

June 20, 2016

This weekend my quaint little neighborhood in Richmond, VA went three straight days without electricity following a powerful storm. During the marathon power outage I noticed a lot more children playing outside than usually do. Maybe they should take some creative playtime tips from these kids I came across recently in Zambia.

Coffee from the Mountains of the Moon

April 13, 2016

On my whirlwind five-day trip to Uganda last month I managed to cover a lot of ground in both the east and west of the country. Squeezed between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, Uganda may look like a dwarf on the map, but it’s actually more than double the size of my home state of Virginia. Combining that with some poor road conditions means it can take 12 hours or more to get from one side to the other. Bukonzo Organic Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union (BOCU) is a fair trade coffee producer based in the town of Kasese, Uganda. Its coffee farmers, however, grow their crop in the nearby Rwenzori Mountains. Shared Interest invests in BOCU and other fair trade producers around the globe. The Rwenzori Mountains were known to the ancient world as the Mountains of Moon for their snow-capped white peaks. (Sadly there’s little of these[…]

LEAP Back to Learning

April 6, 2016

In the Philippines, child labor in the sugarcane fields means quick income for struggling families and interrupted education for children. ChildFund’s LEAP (Livelihoods, Education, Advocacy, Protection) program helps provide alternative livelihoods to parents while bringing children back to school where they belong.

Below the Surface

March 9, 2016

Every year it seems I return to Emali, Kenya to document families experiencing water shortages in the extreme. ChildFund New Zealand is and has been working tirelessly in Emali to provide water access one community at a time. This year villages have been impacted by the El Niño weather pattern that is raging in neighboring Ethiopia (see previous blog entry). With families living in such remote areas, 100% access to the earth’s most essential resource may never be achieved in our lifetime, but it is comforting to see the problem made just a bit smaller each time I return.