Hope

Mbarabara, Uganda, Africa

Camera: Rolleiflex

What makes it special: After years of wandering the globe, I am left with an unmistakable sense of positive warmth and kindness towards the people who have shared my path. Often ours is a world of deep poverty, disease and suffering. Still, moving at ground level with the natural pace of the people and the land, and seeing with an open heart, I am regularly reminded that anything is possible if we are armed with a sense of hope.

The story:  "On assignment for the Maybach Foundation, I found myself observing life at its most elemental, sustainable level. I was in the home of one of the foundation's sponsored AIDS-stricken families. The family had lost one parent and one of the two children was HIV positive. But, for the first time they now were considered the lucky ones; there was hope. In the past when a Ugandan child was born with the disease there was very little reason to dream about a future. This was true throughout Africa; there was little money for medical treatment, and very little chance for survival.

Thanks to the efforts of various non-profits, the major international pharmaceutical companies have taken up the cause and brought down the cost of daily HIV treatment to less than $1 per day. Now, through various non-government organizations' financial sponsorships, more and more African people have critical access to medicine and real reasons to have hope.

The hut's walls and floors were made of mud, and the thatched roof admitted the sky. There was no running water or electricity. This little child's world was minimal and organic. There were none of the things we in the Western World take for granted. This was the case for most of the family dwellings we visited. As I took in the frugal surroundings I had to remind myself that this was the 21st century and that my high tech, warp-speed world coexisted with this biblical place.

The child held me in his gaze, watching me with a calm and peaceful acceptance. There was no negativity, no sense of unattainable expectation. It was a look of knowing and balance. For me it was a true sign of real hope."