Showing posts with label photo essay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photo essay. Show all posts
9.26.2009
9.12.2009
The Power of Education
This photo essay was submitted by photographer Amiran White.
I first visited Shanti Bhavan in the south of India at the end of 2008 and have made several trips back. Shanti Bhavan, which means ‘Haven of Peace,’ is a residential school in south India. The free school offers the best education possible to children from India's lowest caste, the dalits, enabling the students to dream of becoming doctors and astronauts rather than the rag-picker and cleaner jobs they would have been destined for.
The project began with one man, Dr. Abraham George, and his belief that education can change people’s lives more than anything else. Through his dedication and that of the teachers, they have kept the doors open for 10 years, but recent financial difficulties have halted the intake of any more students.
I was taken with the children’s openness and conviction that anything is possible. They aspire to give back to their communities. It’s a brilliant model for how we can help from the ground up, a model that could be taken not just throughout India but to any country, giving everyone the power of education — something that can be given and never taken away.
I first visited Shanti Bhavan in the south of India at the end of 2008 and have made several trips back. Shanti Bhavan, which means ‘Haven of Peace,’ is a residential school in south India. The free school offers the best education possible to children from India's lowest caste, the dalits, enabling the students to dream of becoming doctors and astronauts rather than the rag-picker and cleaner jobs they would have been destined for.
The project began with one man, Dr. Abraham George, and his belief that education can change people’s lives more than anything else. Through his dedication and that of the teachers, they have kept the doors open for 10 years, but recent financial difficulties have halted the intake of any more students.
I was taken with the children’s openness and conviction that anything is possible. They aspire to give back to their communities. It’s a brilliant model for how we can help from the ground up, a model that could be taken not just throughout India but to any country, giving everyone the power of education — something that can be given and never taken away.
9.05.2009
WOMEN’S TREK FOR PEACE & DEVELOPMENT IN NEPAL
This photo essay was submitted by photographerKiran Ambwani
Last year, 20 Canadian and 12 Nepalese women embarked on a powerful and meaningful journey: a trek for peace and development in Nepal. The project, organized by the Center for International Studies and Cooperation and Uniterra, was an initiative to communicate the reality, the dreams and the hopes of the Nepalese women. These mountain women face poverty, disease, and lack of access to basic resources, along with gender and caste discrimination. Their voices are often unheard and they are excluded from decision-making processes. For 20 years in Nepal, the Center for International Studies along with its local partner organizations has encouraged women's participation in community development.
In the midst of western Nepal's stark beauty, cultural heritage and diversity, I witnessed a grinding, hopeless poverty and dependence. However, I was pleased to discover that women teachers, health care workers, healers, human rights activists, community leaders, reporters, and managers of women’s cooperatives, are conduits of social change. These inspirational women are the future of Nepal as it emerges from 11 years of conflict and decades of monarchy, offering hope of dignity, equality, wealth distribution, and access to basic resources. Achieving gender equality and empowering women is of utmost necessity for building healthier, better educated, more peaceful and prosperous societies.
Last year, 20 Canadian and 12 Nepalese women embarked on a powerful and meaningful journey: a trek for peace and development in Nepal. The project, organized by the Center for International Studies and Cooperation and Uniterra, was an initiative to communicate the reality, the dreams and the hopes of the Nepalese women. These mountain women face poverty, disease, and lack of access to basic resources, along with gender and caste discrimination. Their voices are often unheard and they are excluded from decision-making processes. For 20 years in Nepal, the Center for International Studies along with its local partner organizations has encouraged women's participation in community development.
In the midst of western Nepal's stark beauty, cultural heritage and diversity, I witnessed a grinding, hopeless poverty and dependence. However, I was pleased to discover that women teachers, health care workers, healers, human rights activists, community leaders, reporters, and managers of women’s cooperatives, are conduits of social change. These inspirational women are the future of Nepal as it emerges from 11 years of conflict and decades of monarchy, offering hope of dignity, equality, wealth distribution, and access to basic resources. Achieving gender equality and empowering women is of utmost necessity for building healthier, better educated, more peaceful and prosperous societies.
8.01.2009
Picking up the Remnants of war
This photo essay was submitted by Pete Muller
After more than twenty years of armed conflict, the fertile hills of northern Uganda remain littered with the explosive remnants of war. In cooperation with the Danish Demining Group and the Uganda Mine Action Centre, I documented the clearance of landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXO) throughout this embattled region. At present, UMAC mine clearance teams are deployed in highly contaminated, mountainous areas along the border with South Sudan.
In addition to large-scale mine clearance operations in the far north, UMAC Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) teams continue to clear UXO from the battlegrounds of northern Uganda. As millions of internally displaced persons return to their native lands, reports of unexploded grenades, RPGs, air-dropped bombs and other hazardous items pour in at alarming rates. UXO are highly unpredictable and pose considerable risk to all who encounter them. Such items are often located in extremely remote areas, requiring EOD technicians to brave heat and unforgiving terrain to reach them.
I have little envy for those tasked with clearing these deadly items. In oppressive heat, these committed men and women work on their hands and knees for long hours to make grounds safe for displaced Ugandans to return home. Mine clearance work is painstaking and requires intense concentration. Any lapse in focus can result in life-threatening accidents. De-miners may go hours, even days, without hitting a single mine. It is in such periods that maintaining concentration is essential, and exceptionally difficult.
I was shocked to see how tedious the process is. In northern Uganda, which has relatively low levels of mine and UXO contamination compared to Iraq, Afghanistan and Columbia, the grounds will remain hazardous for several years. Each EOD team can safely reach and clear one or two UXO per day, of which thousands are scattered about the region. Mine clearance moves at an even slower pace. In ideal conditions, each de-miner can clear approximately ten square meters per day, and even less with rugged terrain and tropical rains. Additionally, the grounds are highly contaminated with scrap metal and bullet cases, each of which gives a detector reading and must be approached as potentially lethal.
What strikes me most is the extraordinary disparity between how long it takes to contaminate ground versus how long it takes to clear it. A unit of fifty men can put down thousands of rounds, fire hundreds of mortars and RPGs and lay dozens of mines within a period of 24 hours. If they continue at such a pace for one month, it might take eight months to address the mess they made. Considering the massive scale of armed conflict in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya, the implications are daunting.
Pete Muller
Danish Demining Group
Uganda Mine Action Centre
After more than twenty years of armed conflict, the fertile hills of northern Uganda remain littered with the explosive remnants of war. In cooperation with the Danish Demining Group and the Uganda Mine Action Centre, I documented the clearance of landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXO) throughout this embattled region. At present, UMAC mine clearance teams are deployed in highly contaminated, mountainous areas along the border with South Sudan.
In addition to large-scale mine clearance operations in the far north, UMAC Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) teams continue to clear UXO from the battlegrounds of northern Uganda. As millions of internally displaced persons return to their native lands, reports of unexploded grenades, RPGs, air-dropped bombs and other hazardous items pour in at alarming rates. UXO are highly unpredictable and pose considerable risk to all who encounter them. Such items are often located in extremely remote areas, requiring EOD technicians to brave heat and unforgiving terrain to reach them.
I have little envy for those tasked with clearing these deadly items. In oppressive heat, these committed men and women work on their hands and knees for long hours to make grounds safe for displaced Ugandans to return home. Mine clearance work is painstaking and requires intense concentration. Any lapse in focus can result in life-threatening accidents. De-miners may go hours, even days, without hitting a single mine. It is in such periods that maintaining concentration is essential, and exceptionally difficult.
I was shocked to see how tedious the process is. In northern Uganda, which has relatively low levels of mine and UXO contamination compared to Iraq, Afghanistan and Columbia, the grounds will remain hazardous for several years. Each EOD team can safely reach and clear one or two UXO per day, of which thousands are scattered about the region. Mine clearance moves at an even slower pace. In ideal conditions, each de-miner can clear approximately ten square meters per day, and even less with rugged terrain and tropical rains. Additionally, the grounds are highly contaminated with scrap metal and bullet cases, each of which gives a detector reading and must be approached as potentially lethal.
What strikes me most is the extraordinary disparity between how long it takes to contaminate ground versus how long it takes to clear it. A unit of fifty men can put down thousands of rounds, fire hundreds of mortars and RPGs and lay dozens of mines within a period of 24 hours. If they continue at such a pace for one month, it might take eight months to address the mess they made. Considering the massive scale of armed conflict in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya, the implications are daunting.
Pete Muller
Danish Demining Group
Uganda Mine Action Centre
7.25.2009
"Putting the Neighbor Back in the Hood"
Restoring a family-friendly environment for communities across the nation, Mad Dads seeks to address issues of drugs, gangs and violence in crime-ridden communities. They head to the streets at night to protect and intervene in violence, and by day they hope to provide a model for adolescents to look up to.
Recently, Minneapolis Mad Dads, spoke at NEED's Contributors Speak Out Event, and as promised, here is a look into the work of a Mad Dad.
Photos Courtesy | Mad Dads
Mad Dads
Recently, Minneapolis Mad Dads, spoke at NEED's Contributors Speak Out Event, and as promised, here is a look into the work of a Mad Dad.
Photos Courtesy | Mad Dads
Mad Dads
7.18.2009
A Ray of Hope
This photo essay was submitted by Sandip Debnath
Sandip Debnath is a freelance photographer living in Bangalore, India, who documents social issues and conflicts. Read on for a Q&A about his photographs of Samarthanam, a home for the visually impaired in Bangalore.
Q: What did you photograph?
A: Mahantesh, Paul Mudda and Nagesh are the three visually impaired friends with a shared mission to help the visually impaired access higher education and to create a niche for themselves in this highly competitive society. They founded Samarthanam in 1997 with the initial aim of providing housing to enable visually impaired people to continue their schooling. Over the years, the organization has grown both in numbers of participants and in the breadth of its activities. It has expanded to include students who are poor and physically challenged.
Q: How did it impact you?
A: To a great extent, it opened up my thoughts towards those who are visually impaired as human beings. They are far more emotional and humanitarian in nature than sighted people. Even though they can’t see the world, their world is full of colors, full of life and happiness. They often develop confidence in their own abilities that is stronger than most sighted people. I have a lot to learn from them.
Sandip Debnath
Sandip Debnath is a freelance photographer living in Bangalore, India, who documents social issues and conflicts. Read on for a Q&A about his photographs of Samarthanam, a home for the visually impaired in Bangalore.
Q: What did you photograph?
A: Mahantesh, Paul Mudda and Nagesh are the three visually impaired friends with a shared mission to help the visually impaired access higher education and to create a niche for themselves in this highly competitive society. They founded Samarthanam in 1997 with the initial aim of providing housing to enable visually impaired people to continue their schooling. Over the years, the organization has grown both in numbers of participants and in the breadth of its activities. It has expanded to include students who are poor and physically challenged.
Q: How did it impact you?
A: To a great extent, it opened up my thoughts towards those who are visually impaired as human beings. They are far more emotional and humanitarian in nature than sighted people. Even though they can’t see the world, their world is full of colors, full of life and happiness. They often develop confidence in their own abilities that is stronger than most sighted people. I have a lot to learn from them.
Sandip Debnath
6.30.2009
Child Addiction
This post was submitted by photographer Nathan Golden
Street children living at the Howrah Railway Station near Kolkata, India, take care of themselves and each other in an otherwise uncaring environment. I was moved by their ability to generate a community and to survive. They represent tremendous potential that is wasted and in danger of being lost altogether.
Street children living at the Howrah Railway Station near Kolkata, India, take care of themselves and each other in an otherwise uncaring environment. I was moved by their ability to generate a community and to survive. They represent tremendous potential that is wasted and in danger of being lost altogether.
6.18.2009
Restoring Sight
This post was submitted by photographer Kaushal Parikh
Cataracts are the most common cause of partial and complete blindness in India. Few facilities in rural areas have the means to complete the simple surgery it takes to remove cataracts.
Every year a charitable organization called iCare organizes a cataract eye camp at the Baba Amtes ashram in the small town of Anandwan. At the camp, two renowned cataract surgeons from Mumbai spend a week operating on more than one thousand villagers, including lepers and children.
Cataracts are the most common cause of partial and complete blindness in India. Few facilities in rural areas have the means to complete the simple surgery it takes to remove cataracts.
Every year a charitable organization called iCare organizes a cataract eye camp at the Baba Amtes ashram in the small town of Anandwan. At the camp, two renowned cataract surgeons from Mumbai spend a week operating on more than one thousand villagers, including lepers and children.
6.15.2009
The Women of the Swamp
This post was submitted by photographer Benjamin Alexandrovich Guez
Under a grey sky and light rain, the bus bounced across a potholed highway. The road to the port city of Tumaco, Colombia winds through mountains and lowland jungles. Upon entering the intricate chain of neighborhoods of Tumaco, I saw houses dangling on wooden supports above the polluted water. It was obvious that I had arrived in a city where a large portion of the population has been affected by war and displaced from other locations. I had travelled here to photograph the women who collect a shellfish called “piangua.”
“Piangueras” scavenge their way through the swampy mangroves looking for mussels. Traditionally each village along the inner waterways of the departments of Chocó, Valle de Cauca, Cauca and Nariño has had its own handful of piangueras to cater to local dietary needs. Although the historically undeveloped region has ample fertile soil, many have had to abandon their plots due to armed violence, and most piangueras today are displaced farmers living around Tumaco. Usually women of African descent, they range from very young girls to old women. Most of this back-breaking work is realized by more than one thousand women who are transported from Tumaco to the mangroves in canoes not apt for 20 people, let alone the 39 piangueras I found myself accompanying early the next morning.
Under a grey sky and light rain, the bus bounced across a potholed highway. The road to the port city of Tumaco, Colombia winds through mountains and lowland jungles. Upon entering the intricate chain of neighborhoods of Tumaco, I saw houses dangling on wooden supports above the polluted water. It was obvious that I had arrived in a city where a large portion of the population has been affected by war and displaced from other locations. I had travelled here to photograph the women who collect a shellfish called “piangua.”
“Piangueras” scavenge their way through the swampy mangroves looking for mussels. Traditionally each village along the inner waterways of the departments of Chocó, Valle de Cauca, Cauca and Nariño has had its own handful of piangueras to cater to local dietary needs. Although the historically undeveloped region has ample fertile soil, many have had to abandon their plots due to armed violence, and most piangueras today are displaced farmers living around Tumaco. Usually women of African descent, they range from very young girls to old women. Most of this back-breaking work is realized by more than one thousand women who are transported from Tumaco to the mangroves in canoes not apt for 20 people, let alone the 39 piangueras I found myself accompanying early the next morning.
6.13.2009
The Eradication of Tibetan Culture
This post was submitted by photographer Heather Lindquist
Tibetans resisted celebrating Losar, or Tibetan New Year, in 2009 out of fear. Their continuing anxiety over the missing and murdered was heightened by turmoil and casualties that occurred before the summer Olympics in Bejing. Over the past few years I have documented this culture at its origin in Tibet, visited areas of forced relocation in India and met Tibetan refugees in the US.
Tibetans resisted celebrating Losar, or Tibetan New Year, in 2009 out of fear. Their continuing anxiety over the missing and murdered was heightened by turmoil and casualties that occurred before the summer Olympics in Bejing. Over the past few years I have documented this culture at its origin in Tibet, visited areas of forced relocation in India and met Tibetan refugees in the US.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
