Thanks Steve and Shannon for the wonderful evening. You guys know how to party!

I took these photos while documenting Compassion International’s Child Survival program, which is wonderful and effective outreach to marginalized young mothers and their children in Tanzania. This is how it works. Compassion Int. staff, along with community and church leaders, identify the most needy and form them into small groups. They meet at least once a week to receive encouragement, spiritual guidance, livelihood training, and enough nutrient-packed porridge to feed their baby for the week. The latter is actually prepared by the women themselves, by mixing a variety of beans, nuts, and flour and placing them in sacks to be transported to the local mill. By the next meeting, the porridge will have been milled and measured equally among the women. The allotment will provide a hearty meal for either a nursing mother, or if old enough, their baby as well.

The stories of these women were almost more than I could bear to hear. Like the first woman in these pictures. I found out after photographing her at church that only days before her husband was killed in a motorcycle accident. Widowed with such a young child, she’s facing a long and difficult journey in a country not able to provide any form of assistance. Her and the baby desperately needs the mercy and love that Compassion International is providing.

Compassion does amazing work and is by far the most effective organization I’ve seen that breaks the cycle of poverty, one family at a time. No matter your religion, if you’re not doing something about eradicating poverty, God called and said you have to. Really.

Stepping down from the soap box right…. now.

At the age of 19, this woman (above) was widowed just a few days before I took this photo. She’s being helped through Compassion International’s Child Survival Program

Down the trail from Compassion’s Child Survival project site, a young Muslim girl retrieves water for her family before school.

More pictures uploaded here

I won’t fill up the blog here with a picture a day, but rather upload a collage every week or so. I hope to put up tips and behind the scenes info for folks to try out with their cameras at home. I’ll occasionally put away my expensive gear and demonstrate how to take pro photos with a $100 point and shoot. Check back and leave a comment on what you think!

p.s. They could not have picked a more serene location for their union last weekend. Who knew that just above the U.C. Berkeley campus lies a grove of beautiful redwoods, just across the street from the Botanical Gardens which made for endless portrait possibilities.

We’ll be providing awesome school portraits for all East Bay high schools throughout the summer. It’s time to say no to the corny studio pictures and get your MYLIFE on already! The first 11 people to join the Facebook page will receive a free package upgrade — worth over $110!

Mention “ELENA’S BLOG POST” when you book your own school portrat photoshoot and receive a $20 print credit!

Working “on-loan” to Compassion was really a wonderful experience on so many levels. First, they are an organization that simply does no better job at demonstrating mercy and love to those born into poverty. With over a million children sponsored, Compassion is one of the bigger groups that provides weekly bible programs as well as meal programs, medical and educational resources. And if a sponsored child achieves certain academic scores, they even have a chance for a full university scholarship. My assignment in Kenya was to document a few of their scholarship recipients (see some profiles below) as well as their Child Survival Program in Tanzania – will post that later. Their stories are truly inspiring and a credit to the hard work of Compassion’s staff and the sponsors that enable the ministry.

Once a sponsored child graduates from high school, they have the opportunity to apply for the Leadership Development Program, which provides a full four-year scholarship to any university. These are some of the LDP students I spent time with at the University of Nairobi.

“love is the ultimate app” – david jay, photographer