Photo Friday: Village children in Uganda
Posted by Caitlin on 26 Sep 2008 at 07:00 am | Tagged as: Africa, Photo post
Uganda; April 2006
I had the privilege to go to Uganda to write about a sustainable coffee project in April 2006. It was my first time in Africa, though not my last; I’ve since been to Tanzania, Senegal and Tunisia.
Uganda is a country that has suffered enormously in modern times, particularly in the 1970s under the ruthless Idi Amin. In some places, entire villages were wiped out. Certainly the natural landscape bears the scars of this era, with many of the forests felled and wildlife hunted out for food.
Yet everywhere we went, we were welcomed by happy, smiling people who seemed genuinely excited and pleased to see us. The reception of some of the children, crowding in and waving, made me feel like a queen!
Unlike in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, where exposure to tourists has taught people to expect payment for having their photo taken, everyone was delighted to pose for photographs and when I showed them the image in my digital view finder it was, for some, the first image of themselves they’d ever seen. On my return to London, I printed copies and sent them back care of the coffee company to give back to the villages.
This post is part of Photo Friday, hosted by Debbie at DeliciousBaby. For all of this week’s submissions, see here.
Sounds like a wonderful trip. I’ve never been to Africa myself, but it’s somewhere I’d think would be fascinating.
I especially love the middle shot of the two kids. Such a difference from each other in their expressions!
Beautiful. I love the boy chewing on sugar cane! I can’t wait to visit Africa.
How lovely that you were able to share these pictures with the people in them. The resilience and beauty of people never fails to amaze me. What is the boy in the top photo eating?
Sugar cane … not exactly great for his health or teeth but there you have it! - Caitlin.
What great photos. These bring back similar memories of visiting some of the less-touristed towns in Madagascar. We were always swarmed by kids desperate to get close to us. It was a little overwhelming, but in no way intimidating, and I always loved these moments.
Their favorite things? We would show them guidebook pictures of other areas in Madagascar. The kids had heard of the natural beauties in their country, but of course never seen anyplace other than their own village. Another big hit was the digital photos of home we’d had the foresight to load on our camera before leaving the states.
[...] The fact that I’ve been able to travel and see so much of this beautiful planet, from the Arctic to Africa. [...]