Ecuador: I shot mostly video on this trip, but not sure when those stories will see the light of day. Happy school children and really tall mountains were the norm. It sure is cold up in them hills. Ecuador’s snow-capped kingpin, Mt. Chimborazo, can be seen in the distance of the landscape below. Other shots of ChildFund’s interventions display livelihood initiatives centered on knitting and agriculture.
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In the US we love our pets. In many other parts of the world, they need them. I recently visited a few families in Kenya who depend on their chickens for their livelihood. ChildFund New Zealand’s Gifts that Grow program allows New Zealanders to buy livestock for needy families who will use them as sources of income, nutrition… and happiness.
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“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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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.
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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.
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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[…]
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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.
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You won’t believe your eyes! Many families in rural Africa must resort to collecting water from open, dangerous sources which are often shared with domestic livestock. A solution has been found, however, to bring clean and safe water to families in otherwise desperate need using a new purifying process by American consumer products company, P&G. Here, 9-year-old Johnan, of Uganda, instructs us on the proper steps to take to perform this transformative, life giving, magic trick.
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Paid jobs are a rarity in most parts of rural India. In S. Rajasthan children are often either enticed by wages or forced into the grueling labor of the cotton fields in the neighboring state to support their families. A child’s small and delicate hands are gentle on cotton plants and actually assist in their cross-pollination. Girls are more likely to be targets, as their education, compared to boys, is looked upon as expendable. ChildFund International’s anti-trafficking programs, detailed in the above video, work both to rescue children who are victims of trafficking, as well as to provide alternative incomes for families in communities where the phenomenon is most common. Thanks to Christine Ennulat for the assistance on the post-production of the video piece.
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My latest video for Catholic Relief Services is the third of a trilogy showcasing the IMPACT program in Malawi. This piece, an excerpt from which is shown below, deals with community-based child protection programs. In Malawi, one out of three children has experienced abuse before they reach the age of 18. Malawi, in and of itself, is no more dangerous for children than other countries in the area. The problem has been that those working to protect children, from the next door neighbor in the rural village to the Malawi Social Welfare Department, have not been working in coordination with one another. Children have suffered as a result. In some instances cases of abuse have gone unreported, and perpetrators have gone unpunished. IMPACT has successfully connected the various stakeholders through the deployment of family care volunteers and the mobilization of an Orphans and Vulnerable Children Committee in each community where[…]
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