I want to ask each of you to help me accomplish a dream of mine. I want my birthday this year to help provide enough clean water for an entire village in Africa.
I’ve spent the past two years capturing stories at charity: water projects in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Haiti and Central African Republic. I’ve talked heart to heart with women who walk 8+ hours a day to get a bucket of dirty water for their families to drink. I’ve seen women crawl into fowl smelling ponds shared with cows to gather drinking water. I’ve sat with countless people dreaming, hoping and praying for clean water to one day come to their village.
When it finally does……LIVES ARE CHANGED!
This year 100% of your donation will go to a charity: water well in Central African Republic.
Last year I traveled to C.A.R. and spent time with the beautiful Bayaka People. The tallest of them stood only about five feet tall, and almost all had unique facial markings, scars and sharpened teeth, which represent beauty to them. When we asked them “What is your age?? or “Ngu tti mo ayeke ok,” in the local language Sambo, the Pygmies couldn’t answer. Most had no idea how old they were. We found quickly that the more appropriate question was, “How many children do you have?” which they then were proud to answer.
A typical mother in C.A.R. has about 8 children, and sees 4 of them die prematurely from water-borne disease or malnutrition. Can you imagine losing half of your family just because your water was dirty?
I’ve heard their voice loud and clear as they expressed their need for clean water and now they need you. Photos of the Bayaka
Collectively we can and will change a village forever!
So please, on this 27th Birthday of mine…help give clean water to the Bayaka people by giving a small gift of $27.
A few weeks ago I took some much needed time off and ventured West with some dear friends. I’ve heard about this little Gem of a city called Marfa and have always wanted to visit. Our goal was not to take pictures, but relax and enjoy life together….but beautiful things happen with 5 photographers hit the open road. So thankful for each one of them and the inspiration they are to me daily. And yes, we slept in a Tee Pee!
Today marks 6 months since the January 12th earthquake struck Haiti and killed more than 200K people. It feels like just yesterday
was jumping on a plane with @safeworldnexus to Port-au-Prince to do relief work. I spent over a month in Haiti during the spring.
I met some of the most amazing people who will always remain close to my heart. I put a few images together today to
remember the beautiful country of Haiti and remind us all, including myself, that we need to stay focused on helping them.
Rebecca who lives in Alip Village, use to drink some of the nastiest water I’ve ever seen in my life. She showed me a small brown
hole about a foot wide in the ground. I reached down with a plastic bottle to get some of the water out. The smell was wretched.
I almost gaged. The bottle I lifted out was full of movement – big worms, tiny worms, sticks and smelled like a toilet. The odor
stayed on my hands the entire day, even after I washed them several times. I am SO THANKFUL that Rebecca has a water well in
her village now. You can help so many more get clean water -
I am so excited to be sharing at Echo Conference in Dallas, Texas this year. I will be doing a breakout session on Humanitarian Photography called
“A Different Kind of Picture”
How easy is it to get wrapped up in a person’s circumstance and forget to engage in their story? Images have the capability to convey meaning, compel thought and create movement. In this session, we will discuss Humanitarian Photography and how we can be a voice for those who need to be heard.
click on the image below and take some time checking out the speakers. This is a conference you will love! With Keynote speakers: Don Miller,Jonathan Acuff, Todd Wagner, and Dan Merchant, you can’t go wrong.
I can’t wait to reconnect with everyone there and meet many of you for the first time!
charity: water just launched the story of one of the best days in my life. I traveled back to Murinja with @beckystraw & @moscarpelli
in April and we found Jean Bosco and the 2 year old water well still pumping clean water for the whole village. It was so joyous!
So grateful to charity: water for sharing this story with the world. My dream is that through this story many more villages
around the world will receive the gift of clean water just like Murinja did.
I’m coffee addict. It’s true. I have searched the world far and wide to find my favorite coffees. While Ethiopian coffee remains one of
my top favs, I truly believe the best coffee in the world is found in Jinja, Uganda at a little place called the Source Cafe
(you can also buy the whole bean at Entebbe International Airport) If you ever find yourself there, look for KIRA KAWA coffee. You won’t regret it! Matt Chambers from Safe Water Nexus recently traveled to Uganda and went all the way to Jinja to get me a few pounds…Can’t wait to make some.
As many of you know, I’m a big supporter of Adorama Camera Store.
Here is a few reasons why I buy equipment from them:
1. They have only the BEST customer service in the world
2. Joel Meisels – Yes, I’ve actually met the amazing Social Media Guru himself. Only an email a way to assist with any questions you have.
3. They have a great selection of the best equipment that is pretty much always in stock.
4. They have free shipping on 7-10 delivery and orders are always shipped promptly.
Am I the only one who doesn’t like listening to my own voice? I have hesitated to post this Podcast for a while now because I didn’t have the guts to listen to it myself. When I got back from Haiti in late March, Adorama asked me to do a podcast for their Techtock. Really had a great time talking with Jack Howard about Humanitarian Photography and my heart behind what I do.
I hope you enjoy it. Let me know your thoughts…I still haven’t listened to it.
“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage. Anger that things are the way they are.
Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”” St. Augustine
