I really had no intention of taking this photo. I wanted to get a stylish shot of the stacks of fishing lanterns that you see on the right side of the picture. But, on this occasion and so many others the moment a camera is held up to take a snapshot, its holder is surrounded by curious children. Usually, there is a window of two shots in the village before everything turns into that very charming photo of 15 smiling kids against a background of simple homes, pushing each other around to get to the front of a photo. It's really hard not to feel like the best person in the world in that moment. For that reason, it's important to give context to moments like these. Some start to think that excitement about white skin or flashy technology is personal praise for their noble quest to fight squalor in Uganda. But, one thing that those kids don't need is someone who thinks waving a camera around or just sharing their presence and prayers is development work. That's why we want to do something real for these kids, like finding ways to take the bit hope that a child might feel from seeing something or someone novel, and making it a steady part of their life. Our real challenge will be building excitement, energy, hope and smiles into the community. The quintessence of development has little do with you and everything to do with what remains after you've left.
If you manage to be humble in your work, you'll give more than you ever could as someone who holds reality at a distance. Use photos of kids, like this guy, to imagine what their world is like and why having their portrait taken is so spectacular.
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The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it. Flights to Manila
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