Brian Carlson submitted this story about his motivations as a photographer.

photo | Brian Carlson

I traveled to the Philippines to do a photo story on families who live in a garbage dump and squatters who live in a cemetery. Being knee-deep in trash and watching children and teenagers pick through garbage is heartbreaking. On arrival I teamed up with an organization called Metro Ministries, whose mission is “to bring hope to urban children through faith based and character education while addressing issues such as hunger, AIDS awareness, and child abuse.” Through them I had the opportunity to interview a woman who had been raped, gave birth to a child from that rape, and was living in the dump. They were providing this woman with food and emotional support through her struggle. I’ve been in some sad situations, the slums in Kenya and war torn Sudan, and this was equally saddening. When she began to cry after recalling what happened, I had to turn away and hold back tears. Nothing can prepare you for that. I’m currently using the interview in a multimedia story that I am producing on the garbage dump. Read the rest of this entry »

The following story was contributed by Misengabo Esperance Kapuadi.

Civil wars in 1996 and 1998 left millions of Congolese citizens dead and the living in desperate poverty. In such times of misfortune, kids are often accused of sorcery. This is one reason why an estimated 45,000 children live on the streets of Kinshasa, 30,000 in Lubumbashi and tens of thousands in other urban areas of the country.

Photo | Misengabo Esperance Kapuadi Read the rest of this entry »

Photo | Thomas LeeAkosua Boateng, Co-founder of the Youth Institute of Science & Technology, contributed this story about a school in Ghana that is empowering girls. Photos are courtesy of Thomas Lee.

Tucked away in a small, remote village in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, something exciting is taking place at the Youth Institute of Science & Technology. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo | Thomas LeeContributing photojournalist Thomas Lee recently visited the Global Medical Relief Program: Health Outreach and Peer Education (HOPE). His photos, along with Executive Director Victor Roy’s history of the organization, tell the story of HOPE Center.

Joseph Achana, a community leader and Rotarian in Ghana, believed strongly that the villages surrounding the town of Ho needed access to more quality health services and programs. For many villagers, walking to the town was the only way to be seen by a nurse. Little outreach could be conducted by the Ghana Health Services (the government body in charge of health services) because no outpost existed near the more rural areas. Most existing government facilities provided low-quality service from dilapidated facilities. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo | Yan SeilerWhen an image from his latest photographic work was chosen for the cover of NEED’s Issue 4 in late 2007, Yan Seiler thought Christmas had come early.

Obviously he was pleased, but also surprised because he had not easily decided to include that particular picture in the final selection sent to our picture editors. After some hesitation, Seiler included it anyway, and earned himself his first ever cover.

The 33-year-old Swiss national’s interest in photography is indeed a recent one, spurred by the gift of an old film camera in 2004. The potential he discovered in this medium was so strong that it quickly became a love affair. “I’ve started shooting black and white films, and later on I joined a community sharing photographs on the web,” he says. “I bought a digital SLR [camera] and from that point it almost became an obsession, capturing moments, freezing emotions, atmospheres.” Read the rest of this entry »

Photo | Swiatoslaw WojtkowiakA civil war has gripped Somalia since 1991. For the past 17 years the African nation has been in and out of the news as the crisis becomes more and more dire. Many Somalis try to escape their country’s conditions by fleeing to neighboring states such as Kenya or Yemen. Those traveling to Yemen must cross the Gulf of Aden, a journey not all survive. A 2005 BBC estimate stated that an average of 30 boats filled with one thousand people set sail for Yemen each month. Those who arrive safely ashore are provided with UN medical care and transportation to a refugee camp, most often to Al Kharaz, one of the largest sites.

Unfortunately many do not survive journey. Human traffickers often find it easier to kill their customers than risk being caught by the Yemeni coast guard, and smugglers willingly shoot passengers who move and rock the boat. This trip is also treacherous, as boats have capsized in the past. One such case occurred in January 2006, leaving 70 Somalis dead. The latest estimate was that nine thousand Somalis and a few Ethiopians lived in the Al Kharaz camp situated in the desert, far away from any city. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo | Maciej DakowiczWith four photo stories published to date and another one in our forthcoming issue 5, Maciej Dakowicz is one of NEED magazine’s dedicated contributing photographers.

We worked together on his latest assignment, covering micro-finance and job development projects in the Balkans, and it was an encounter that taught me a lot about this remarkable character, both professionally and personally.

The Polish-born 31-year-old is relatively new to photography. He picked up his first digital camera in 2003 in Hong Kong, where he lived and worked for four years after graduating from a Polish university with a master degree in computer science. He now works at the University of Glamorgan in Wales as a research assistant while doing a PhD in Computing. This eclecticism also transpires in his photography. Dakowicz has indeed demonstrated to be at ease with very different subjects, from Cambodian children working in garbage dumps to an Indian community for transsexuals, from airborne medical assistance in Tanzania to street photography in Cardiff, his current residence. Read the rest of this entry »

photo | Duscan

I chose my coffee table for my subject because my day starts and finishes with that table. That is because I usually fall asleep on it. Then I get my strong coffee without sugar and enjoy the view from my balcony. -Duscan

To promote intercultural exchange, Briget Ganske, a co-founder of MCMP, brought the program halfway around the world to Niš, Serbia. Facing an economic recession, the citizens of Niš suffer from incredibly high unemployment rates. As Serbia moves to participate in the global economy, the need for English language training and skill building is growing. Even though teenagers in Niš have exposure to English through pop culture, they rarely have the opportunity to practice conversing with native English speakers. They are accustomed to their school’s lecture-based classes in science, math and history with no opportunity to be involved in creative arts. Read the rest of this entry »

High schoolers in two countries practiced photography as part of the My Community, My Perspective project. While taking pictures of their neighborhoods, the students discovered their personal stories and became adept at expressing themselves through a media that had been unavailable to them at school. Both the students from the Harlem borough of New York City and those in Nĭs, Serbia benefited from developing their voices in art.

The following is a selection of some of our favorite photos taken by the students that didn’t make it into the magazine.

Photo | Marilyn


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