Haniville Portraits

Sooooo… wow. It’s been a while huh? And yes a lot has happened.

We started service sites last week. And it had been quite eventful from that point until now.

First of all allow me to give you a little background to our service sites… Because there are 53 of us on this trip, they had to split us up between 5 service sites. We got to have a kindof say or vote as to which one we would be going to for the next month (in terms of a first choice, second choice matter). I was granted my first choice: Walk in the Light. This is a really cool ministry that is based on a farm right across the street of the town ship of Hanivile. Walk in the Light gets their income from their crop of sugar cane, Rose geranium, and Protieas. Walk in the light also serves as a local church for the community.

On the first day we ended up doing mainly busy work that needed to be done around the grounds. We weeded and planted the Rose Geraniums basically all day. This was fine and just got us familiar with the site and doing work.

The second day however was quite a day. The 20 of us split into groups of about 5 people in order to go out into the town ship. My group was the first to go out for the entire day. We jumped into the back of a beat up range rover and headed strait into the township, grasping on to the cold metal as we were thrown and rocked about on the dirt roads. We were out to go pick up various individuals, who lived in the community, needing to be taken to the clinic for daily treatment of TB, or pick up medication for their HIV AIDS. The township itself left quite an impact. Seeing the way people lived, the situations people live in, as well as the contrast between the township and cascades, the town we were staying in across Peitermarizburg; I definitely came away with more questions than answers. The township was quite a hard pill to swallow.

Over that weekend and rest of the week there were many conversations and discussions, all reflecting on the first impressions of the service sites, and again more questions.

Why?

Why did God choose me to be here?

What kind of choice do these people have?

Where do we start in helping?

Etc.

All questions few answers.

As service sites continue I know God is going to give me answers I should have… and keep me from the ones that are bigger than me or that I just don’t need to know. Some have already come… and some I have come to peace with not knowing. Some days are good, and some days are bad.

One day we met a man we were going to be building a house for. His name is Mandla. He was stabbed not to long ago by his daughter’s boyfriend and is now paralyzed from the waist down. He also has AIDS and because of the AIDS he has easily contracted TB.

He is paralyzed, has AIDS, and TB.

We walked in to his house that had a roof made out of decsinigrating sheets of tin, which allowed beams of light to shine down but would drip with water in a storm. The walls were a simple mix of Mud, and sticks plastered on so poorly that I looked like it wouldn’t survive the next down pour. And in the room was a bed, pushed over against two walls, and in that bed laid a man. A man that was broken and bitter because of his situation, but a man that grew a smile at the sight of us.

More Questions.

One of the main things that raised questions in my mind was why is this man in the situation he is in.

He had no choice in getting stabbed, but does he have a choice in being able to walk again?

Why didn’t we have enough faith to lay hands on him to have him be healed? I’m not saying it would have worked, because God may have other plans, but the thing is… we never tried.

As we were walking away from the house after telling him we would be back and will see him again, Neals, one of the coordinators, made a point that got me thinking even more. He was telling Pendile, one of our other coordinators, that he would take Mandla to a soccer game when he can walk. And he would be able to walk when he for gives the man who stabbed him.

Again…

His choice? Or Gods? Or both?

What kind of Choice does the community have?

Many times when talking with people and experiencing the things on this trip, we constaintly have to step back when we start thinking to much about things and ask the bigger question:

Where is God in all this?

What is God doing in this moment, in this life?

And most of the time when I ask that question I must simply humble myself and trust God. Trust that he knows what he’s doing and know that I will never understand the full capacity of his thinking and logic. In the end things may become clear, but to get there I know I must be willing to go and do what God has asked of me in this moment.

Again coming from one of my other Blogs… Trust God.

Another question I found myself asking was about my purpose for being there.

I understand that I was supposed to be there. That God knew me in the womb.

But why here? Why now?

Well I’ve think that answer is starting to get clearer, but let me start at the beginning.

One day all 50 of us were visiting service sites to see which one we would like to spend our time at. I ended up sitting down next to Reg, my Life and Teachings of Jesus professor, and started to have a conversation with him about how I could use the gifts God has given me for well… God. The content of the conversation is not strikingly important however all you need to know is that it got me thinking.

About a week later I was researching different photographers looking for an internship that I might be able to be a part of. I came across a photographer by the name of Jeremy Cowart. Chances are you have seen his work at some point in time, he does work mainly for Christian music artists, but has also shot Taylor Swift, Casts of TV shows and some other cool people. Jeremy Cowart lives a greatly outspoken Christian life and does it through his photography. After the earthquake in Haiti he caught a plane down there to give support and bring back peoples stories, which i suggest you take a look at here: Voices of Haiti

But what caught me was an organization he started about a year ago called Help-Portrait. Basically what they did was set up an event where less fortunate people in different communities could come get their portraits professionally taken and printed all for free. I read an article on the Help-portait event that took place in Nashville and just hearing the stories of the different people coming through getting their portraits taken made me realize how much of a difference just a picture could make.

So I sat down and had yet another conversation with Reg, about possibly starting this type of ministry at Walk in the Light. I had his full support and encouragement. The more I got approval, the more I researched, and the more I researched the more I got excited. I was really excited. I didn’t know what to expect, how it would work, or how much of an impact it would make, but I was really excited to find out.

So finally Tuesday of the second week came, and that was the day that we had planed to go into the community of Haniville during home visits and Take portraits for the people. When that day came, the task at hand was all I could think about during the morning bus ride to our site. I was actually nervous. If I wasn’t in the bus I’m sure I would have been pacing back and forth, however my feet were tapping and my thumbs were twiddling.

Finally we got there and the group of 5 started on their way into the community, me tagging along with my camera to the home visits Pendile had planned. All of us in the group worked to make the portraits as effective as possible. As we were walking I started thinking about whether or not there would ever be a way to show the portraits I had taken to others back home. I felt that it would be completely inappropriate to post the photos on facebook, flicker, on my blog or have them become a part of a portfolio, mainly because the reason for the photos taken are not for my photographic purposes or my promotion. They are entirely for the people of Haniville and the empowerment and dignity it gives them. 

So as I was walking, and thinking after taking some of the pictures, I kept struggling with the fact that I felt like people need to see.  See not my photographic abilities, but see the poverty, the faces of a town ship. See the situations, and conditions of the human lives that live there.  It was then, as I continued to struggle, I Realized one way… a way to tell their stories, and show their lives. I decided that when I get back I would put together a photo essay on the township of Haniville, a kind of photojournalism approach to the lives within the town. Meant only for awareness, and meant only to be seen by those who want to know. I will publish one book, one book to be passed around, shared and discussed in person. Where questions can be asked and deeper experiences shared. I get more excited with the more information, and photos I gather.  I get more excited the more God pushes me.

It was definitely a tough week, filled with hard labor, seeing, breaking, fun, direction, community, and photography. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes from here on out. And when I get back, we should sit and talk, and you can see the faces that I saw and hopefully feel what I felt.