oh haiti

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Worldwide | Tuesday, September 6, 2011 | 5 photos

This rubbish dump is the home to these beautiful children of La Gonave, a small island off Haiti. A place that is a true representation of poverty laced with beauty. These children live in their shanty little homes made of tarps & tin, the goats & chickens roam free, the ocean is beautiful and this is where they spend their days, dawn to dusk, scurring in the trash to find treasures and tools to survive. As I sit & watch, its not just the sharp & jagged barbed wire fence that separates us, but the unspoken words my white skin screams, that “I am rich, I am privileged because I was born there. And you, you were born here.” Their eyes deep with stories unspoken. Stories of tragedy, of hell on earth. But if you look deep enough, you’ll see the beautiful treasures beneath the surface of the destruction. And in their brown eyes, stories of victory. Of hope. Of dreams. In their hands might be trash to us, but it looks like they have the wealth so many of us dream of. Immeasurable joy.

I am a writer, a thinker, a sometimes learning photographer and a determined do-it-yourselfer. I like my coffee white with one, I think writing is lots of fun. I have saved my pennies and been to travel to some of the forgotten pockets of this world, where I’ve been able to learn & play and shoot unforgettable memories with orphans & widows, the poorest of the poor. I want to learn more about photography in the hope to become a louder voice for the voiceless. I want to travel where others dread to go, to capture moments with glass lenses to share the beauty amongst the ashes of this world.