I suppose sometimes, with the challenges you face in volunteer work, you have to swallow your priorities and adjust yourself even more in order to make the best of the situation at hand. Isn't that after all why we travel abroad?
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The ASHA program offers a lot in the way of empowering women and gives many opportunities to village women, but I think it is valuable to note that although the program offers prestige in the larger community, it may not always translate to empowerment in the home.
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This young girl, aged 22, is pregnant with her first child and is answering questions posed to her by the local ASHA as well as by CommCare, a health care questionnaire given through a mobile phone.
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Sitting in the Varanasi Open Hand Cafe, indulging in espresso and creamy cheesecake one might very easily imagine himself somewhere in Europe or the west village of New York. The pastries are fresh, the coffee comes in a large mug and the clientelle are nearly all european. However, the blaring midday sun and noise from honking horns pour in over the second floor balcony as a reminder that this is indeed India. Rhyne de Bruin, a South African native, runs one of Varanasi's premier cafes on Assi Ghat which boasts not only a wide selection of barista quality coffees but artisanal handcrafts from Varanasi locals.
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I was asked to shoot a wine tasting event at Stellina restaurant, the owner being a good friend of the photographer for whom I work. It was a five course meal accompanied by a wine selection at each course. I really enjoyed being back in a kitchen where words like tapenade, agneau and terrine were used; I really do miss fine cuisine. As an appetizer, I’ve...
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This year, I'll be spending two months in the northern province of Uttar Pradesh, specifically the city of Varanasi, documenting the Indian healthcare system.
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I traveled to Canada this past weekend to see a close friend; inevitably I had time to kill while waiting in the airport. Related postsNo related posts...
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Ever since I came back from my photographic adventures in Nicaragua, I’ve begun formulating a dream to continue doing that sort of photojournalistic work. I want to travel abroad, each year, and cover a new humanitarian story. To that end, I’m motivated to begin doing smaller pieces, or stories, within the local St Louis region so that I can begin getting...
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In the 1880′s, Nicaragua was the first country in Central American to begin producing centrifugal sugar; today it is estimated that Nicaragua will produce 542,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar, about 0.4% of production worldwide. Of the total sugar produced in Nicaragua, 25.6% of it is exported and 14.6% is destined for the US. Furthermore, among the top sugar...
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Having spent several weeks with the people of the La Isla community, I thought I had a good impression of what it meant to be poor. Within this community, over 90% of the families live off of less than 1USD a day, there is no running water, and the water being drawn from each home’s well is questionable at best. However, when a friend of mine, working for...
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I lay, face up, in my bed listening to my host family noisily and lovingly get ready for bed in the room next to mine. There is a hole in my mosquito net the size of an orange, my only defense against the raiders of the night which will, the following morning, have left their mark of visit over most of my body. I’m staying with a mother and the five children of...
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Word of a death travels quickly in these tiny, rural towns of Chichigalpa, Nicaragua. Behind the homemade shack of metal siding and plastic walls, I see three men with latex gloves preparing the deceased man of about 55 years old; his wife does not want to see the body, but as I walk behind the makeshift preparation room made of hanging sheets, she comes with me and...
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I continue with my series of interviews together with some of the workers at Ingenio San Antonio (ISA); this time the words come from two paileros, men who work in sugar cane fields after they have been burned, their task is to cut all the cane down so that it can later be collected into massive trailers and hauled away to the factory to be processed as sugar. What...
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She was born a perfectly normal child, says her mother, nothing out of the ordinary that would give warning for what would happen in the future to this little girl. When she was 6 months old, she was taken to the doctor and was diagnosed with a kidney infection as well an inflammation of her liver. Because her mother is poor, she couldn’t afford proper treatment for...
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My interviews with the people of the La Isla community have begun; the aim being to give a voice to the workers at Ingenio San Antonio, the Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited plantation currently employing these people. CAO (Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman), the independent recourse mechanism for the IFC (International Finance Corporation), is setup to handle official...
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Where do I begin? A small primary school was built, next to the spring-water filled swimming hole, so that the kids of La Isla could have a different future than that of plantation work. They are on break, currently, until the 15th of February, and so loiter around during the day with nothing to do. Myself, and two German volunteers, headed to the community organizing a...
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I spent the better part of yesterday’s entire day in the streets and among the people of León, Nicaragua’s second largest and most colonial city. In some way, I find this city quite romantic with its countless shops and restaurants dotting the endless streets, the decrepit yet brightly colored Spanish colonial architecture, and with its people constantly...
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Welcome! I've had the immense opportunity of living in several countries throughout the world and to see the beauty that it offers in both its people and its everyday sights. I hope my photography captures some of that beauty and I hope you enjoy seeing the world through my lens.
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