Children of Bandipur

Michelle MK's Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Canada | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

Photography is a great way to help people "picture" the world: the way life used to be, the way life is now, and the way life could be in the future. I was assigned to work for a sustainable development organization in Nepal, and before starting my assignment, I travelled a little bit in Nepal before arriving to my final destination. I came across this little town called Bandipur, and what made this town so interesting and special, were not just the beautiful architectural buildings, its social development, and great sustainable urban planning, but the children. They were amazingly bright, educated, and happy, not a single worry in the world, the way children ought to be. After traveling through South Asia and witnessing the level of poverty was quite difficult, and especially more so seeing so many children living in extreme poverty. So I fell in love with this little place and the children that gave me hope that the future was going to be a hopeful one. There are enough photos of starving children from developing countries, and I did not want to provide more documentation of this. But instead, I took photos of this place, where not only was the town socially and economically successful, but through investing in human capital, their children's education and health, they were investing in everyone's future--even in yours and mine in this globalized age. We can only picture what the future may look like, and through these photos, I picture hope.