Busy Bee

Another busy day in a (finally!) busy week. Spent the day following colleagues around various places as the Centre attempts to solve the extensive problems of a family of former beneficiaries. This is the inside of their house, which I was asked to photograph for work - the single bed houses 3 boys and is the only furniture. To go completely into their problems would be more than a little inappropriate, but suffice to say that their fortunes are definitely taking a positive turn after today - which makes for a grand day.

In Kigali in general, people don't appreciate being subjects of photographs (except small children) and you begin to realise the power relationships at play in the simple act of taking a picture - as a rich Muzungu with the camera you're taking people and turning them into objects used for various reasons - blogs, Facebook, even in just telling stories or anecdotes a person becomes objectified, often commoditised and placed within the power of the photographer. Taking photos such as this one will thus probably remain limited to the work context, as all too often things can become voyeuristic and the worlds within obscured.

Anthropology hat removed. Time to move on.