DSRP Mandia, Zambia 2009
The Waves of Change Exhibit debuts tomorrow and so this is the last "water photo a day" leading up to that event. The exhibit is a photo documentary and narrative of the journey Melanie Jones and I took last summer through Africa and India. It was a journey to document the lives of some of the worlds poorest people in relation to water. It also became on some levels our journey as "field virgins", going through various stages of processing about poverty, and development. So it is fitting that the last image prior to the exhibit strikes the chord relating to the question often asked in these realms, does development work? We asked that question often in the first few weeks after time and time again hearing and seeing the overwhelming problems, challenges and difficulties so many are facing. We wondered very much in the beginning what were we really doing there. We came away, and in many ways are still continuing to process the experience. We looked at it from our western eyes with the only experience we had. Now I see with a different eye, the beauty that is so apparent in so many different ways, I feel lucky to see that. The children in this garden are happy, and their community is a direct result of the positive effects of development relating to access to safe clean water. This has in turn had a positive economic effect for their community and families. They have hope for better lives, but, they also have wonderful lives now.
No comments:
Post a Comment