Many have heard about the horrific drought that is gripping the Horn of Africa right now. I’ve been spending a lot of time in Kenya’s Turkana Region documenting the situation and the relief efforts there. In Turkana the UN has declared a food Crisis: one step below a Famine but one above an Emergency. While I have plenty of images that depict the crisis, today we’ll focus on the positive – the long-term food security projects of ChildFund and the World Food Programme in Turkana, known as Food for Assets. Click play above for a full explanation. The Food For Assets program works to coerce those Turkana living in irrigable areas to learn sustainable farming practices by making the food aid they receive contingent upon their enrollment in the program. It is the hope of implementing partners that after one year of learning, people who have received the training will[…]
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From the Rooftop of Africa
In the past few months I’ve been working in Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. In this video update I discuss and review my most recent work with ChildFund, Right Choices, Computers 4 Africa, the Times London, and Light in Africa from my base in Kilimanjaro Region, near Africa’s highest peak.
Read MoreExtreme Hope
Living Hope Education Centre, a primary school in war and disaster-torn northeastern Uganda, is beating the odds. As much as I can, I am an advocate for this school, which is doing wonderful work in the lives of young ones.
Read More48 Hours in Vintage Harar
It’s hard to believe it had been five years since I’d been to Ethiopia, not counting the many hours of down time spent making a connection in Addis Ababa’s airport. Recently I arrived a couple days early for a ChildFund assignment in this Horn of Africa country so that I might explore an ancient city in Ethiopia’s exotic East. Harar’s meandering old town is other-worldly, a step back in time along the caravan routes of the middle ages. Indeed, if it weren’t for Coca Cola’s stubborn presence inside the city walls it may sometimes be difficult to decipher which decade, or even century, you were losing your way in. Most Ethiopians don’t mind having their photograph taken. It was my original intention to shoot only portraits for these two days I’d set aside. However, I was quickly enveloped in the atmosphere of the town and the eye candy was too[…]
Read MoreProduct of Rwanda
After years of foreign aid pouring into the East African country of Rwanda following its 1994 civil war and genocide, its citizens are used to receiving help from those on the outside. Those tables could finally be turning, however. Recently I documented the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative, a program wherein food aid for Africa is bought, not from a farmer in Iowa or Australia and shipped thousands of miles to its destination, but from right here in Africa. Rwanda is home to some 55,000 refugees, most of whom are sheltering from ongoing turmoil in the Democratic Republic of Congo, its neighbor to the west. Most of these refugees are landless and unable to provide for themselves and their families. Consequently they’re reliant on food aid. Above, children race a homemade scooter through the streets of Kaziba refugee camp along the shores of Lake Kivu[…]
Read MoreNo Longer Silent
You would think as much as I’ve photographed the lives of women that they were getting preferential treatment here in Africa. Sadly in most cases it is the opposite. Though women are increasingly gaining more roles in government, Liberia’s current president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, remains the first and only elected female head of state on the continent. Although countries like Uganda and Rwanda do have significant female representation in parliament (in both it’s mandated by law), this inclusion hardly ever trickles down to the village level. Last year there was quite an uproar in Sierra Leone when a woman made a bid to become chief. Places where women are marginalized are often places where crimes against them go ignored and unpunished. As part of my most recent assignment with AcionAid, I visited the Women Won’t Wait Centre in Mubende, western Uganda. The center is one of four such locations in[…]
Read MoreDo they know it’s Women’s Day?
I haven’t been in the States during International Women’s Day in quite a while. Unless things have drastically changed, I can’t remember it being a big deal there. In Africa things are different. Currently I’m in Western Uganda gearing up to photograph a Women’s Day march and rally as part of a larger assignment for ActionAid. This coming Tuesday marks the 100th annual celebration of the event. Before I get to that however, detailing my previous assignment with the Uganda Women’s Health Initiative couldn’t be more appropriate for the occasion. One of UWHI’s main programs is to deal with the diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer, which is the leading cause of death for women in Uganda outside the child bearing age bracket. A joint study by the Uganda Ministry of Health and PATH found that 67% of bed occupancy in the gynecological ward of Mulago Hospital, Uganda’s largest, is[…]
Read MoreA Time to Change? | Uganda Votes
Election day in Uganda passed peacefully for the most part, with only a few scattered incidents of reported violence. This does not come as a surprise, however. The announcement of the presidential winner, due no later than Sunday evening, is what will draw the most reaction from the streets. Peaceful does not mean that the vote was without irregularities, however. As opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye stated in a press conference today, “it is already very clear that there have been widespread malpractices in the electoral process.” I witnessed not only voters providing names that clearly did not match the picture provided on the voting register, but also the coaching of voters in the polling queue by party officials or their hired hands. Below, poll workers and local officials in the town of Mbale argue over apparent typographical errors on the register. One colleague of mine reported and photographed the[…]
Read MoreClosing Arguments | Ugandan President Museveni Wraps Up Campaign
At a massive campaign rally that seemed at times more like a victory celebration, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni touted the achievements made under his National Resistance Movement’s leadership during the last decade. After detailing agricultural, educational, economic, and infrastructure improvements, he painted his various rivals as untested and risky choices. Throughout a slew of performances by Ugandan pop stars, “No change” became the slogan of the day. Mr. Museveni has been in power for over 25 years. However, if this crowd has anything to say about it, the recent trend of deposing long-term heads of state won’t carry over to the streets of Kampala. Ugandans go to the polls to elect their President for the next five years on Friday. Behold at last, the True Chapeau…
Read MoreStreets Heating Up | Kampala, Uganda
Uganda’s opposition parties are rallying the faithful ahead of Friday’s presidential and parliamentary voting. Today, presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye campaigned in downtown Kampala to enthusiastic support. Dr. Besigye is the front runner of all the Presidential challengers to Uganda’s incumbent President Yoweri Museveni. Along with supporters of his IPC party (Interparty Cooperation), he took to the streets of Kampala today for a last-minute push of campaigning ahead of Friday’s presidential vote. The crowd was raucous, taking on almost a militant tone. One vehicle in his caravan was decorated to resemble an army tank. Many voters are frustrated that President Museveni has yet to stand down from office after more than 25 years. Dr. Besigye, speaking from the roof of an SUV, had a message for those politicians clinging to power: look to the streets of Egypt and Tunisia. There was indeed a lot of energy on the streets today.[…]
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