to move up and down
"Through Their Eyes" Project
A project of visual story-telling
taken by a south sudanese participant with a digital camera.
taken by a South Sudanese participant on a 35mm holga with b&w film.
Expecting the Unexpected:
As I prepared for this trip people told me it would be hard; working in South Sudan would be hard. I accepted this, and when I showed up at the chaotic one room airport, I felt ready for whatever unexpected adventure South Sudan had in store for me. Because I knew it would be hard. But I wasn’t prepared, I couldn’t have been prepared. I didn’t know it would be this hard. It was harder in ways I didn’t expect (and also easy in ways in I didn’t expect). “Expect the unexpected”—but of course this antic is a fallacy, because you just can’t expect the unexpected and Sudan truly taught me that.
The basic facts are these: I learned first hand the challenges of working in the developing world (in perhaps one of the most underdeveloped), I saw and experienced—with great surprise—the impact and interaction of international aid and development agencies, and finally, I was truly humbled by the incredible sacrificial work of a few local people, the true power of phenomenal people.*
Despite many unforeseen challenges, the cameras made it to Jalle and some of the local people were able to participate in this great experiment. To me this is just the beginning of the project. Within the next year I will return to South Sudan, and return to Jalle and hopefully reconnect with the original photographers and start to capture their personal story.
Also, for a brief video of my “impressions” of Juba, go here.
*I will be creating a short documentary on the power of indigenous non-profit work based on my experiences from this trip and a few particularly powerful people I was able to connect with. Please let me know if you’re interesting in learning more.
Photo credit: Jill Sornson, www.jillm.com
Michael Kuany, Founder of Rebuild Sudan
Photo credit: Jill Sornson, www.jillm.com
