EVERYDAY REALITIES OF AN ORPHANAGE
The Congo for Christ Center (CCC) in Uvira, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was founded in 2007 by a pastor who returned home after years of intense fighting in the region. It cares for 57 orphans and a sizable staff, most of which are volunteers without stipend or pay.
After years of sending volunteers and donations, National Community Church's A1:8 Missions program wanted better understand and support their long-term partnership with CCC by documenting the realities, challenges, joys, and sacrifices of living in and sustaining an orphanage.
Scope: Photography, Awareness (Speaking)
Organization: A:18 Missions / National Community Church
The DRC is still struggling to recover from Africa's World War, wherein an estimated 3 million people died between 1998 and 2003. Despite a peace deal and the formation of a transitional government, the people in eastern DRC remain in a limbo of marauding militias and the army.
FOCUS ON LIFE
We captured a variety of images that conveyed relationships, context, and insight into the daily duties, leisures, and ceremonies of Congo for Christ Center's orphanages and the community that developed around the orphanage.
Ramazani Djumba, 17, rests between kitchen chores after carving pineapple for the evening meal. He and an assortment of older orphans have several responsibilities, such as washing clothes, tending the 'shamba' (garden) and aiding in the kitchen.
Hariza Kidoge (center) stands hidden among bouquets of local plants on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. On this day, he and five other orphans were baptized in the early morning by their faith leaders.
A ceremonial cow is slaughtered on the CCC grounds by local butchers. The special occasion is the 2014 Pentecostal Revival Bible College (PRBC) graduation of three students. Bringing their own tools–a few small knifes and a couple of machetes– the small team sliced the throat of the cow and awaited the bleeding out process before arranging its position (pictured here) to be skinned and quartered. Beef is not a typical menu item for the orphanage, however, on special occasions beef is expected by the guests to be served.
Esperance Martha, age 9, naps in the grass between clapping games on the CCC campus. The grounds have been fenced off in the last year, which provides the children with more room and safety for playing and relaxing.
Sermon Omari, the CCC's choir teacher, prepares for the next day's lessons under a mango tree on the CCC grounds. His role stretches into worship leader at a local church, Congo for Christ Missionaries Church (CCMC), and also as a tutor for the 57 orphans and the community's children that attend the Mango Tree school.
A local politician visits the CCC's latest campus additions during the a dedication ceremony. Accompanied by an entourage of cameras, officials, aids, and an armed escort, his presence demonstrated the importance of the Center within the community. The dignitary was asked during his inspection to pave a road over the rocky path to the Center and provide a police outpost to protect the new students and the orphans. Security and travel limitations are two of the most pressing problems the children deal with on a daily basis.
Motorcycles and other vehicles clutter the N5 highway running through Uvira, making it one of the most dangerous roads in the city. Accidents and fatalities happen often. Uvira is a city in Sud-Kivu Province located at the north end of Lake Tanganyika. Uvira is also connected to other cities by a lake port called Kalundu, located at the southern end of the city. The population of Uvira is reported as 378,736 people, as of 2012.
Shila Ngoma rides in the back of the visiting team's hired transport after Christian church services at the CCMC, near the shores of Lake Tanganyika. The auto transportation is a rare occurrence for the orphans, their normal mode being via foot several kilometers to church and back every week. It is often dangerous for the orphans to commute by foot. The outside community sees the care and gifts provided to the Center from the U.S., which creates tension and leads to theft and confrontation both on and off the Center's premises.
Noe Mazamani being helped into the front seat of a transport by Bernard Isaya. Noe was told at a young age that he was cursed by witchcraft. He later was found to suffer from polio. He is unable to participate in many activities with the rest of the orphans, although he makes his way down the mountain to school five days a week, forty-five minutes each way. Walking down on his own crutches or carried by his peers is the usual routine, but because of the team's visit from the U.S, the children were able to ride with the hired transportation.
Noe practicing English along with his fellow classmates, the first lessons in the newly built Mango Tree School located on the CCC premises. The older orphans do not attend Mango Tree, but in secondary schools the village. Because of Noe's condition, he attends an alternate school alone.The Center's new Mango Tree School is open to enrollment for the surrounding community, while the orphans' enrollment fees are taken care of by their monthly sponsorships from U.S. donors.
Noe attending Christian services at CCMC on a Sunday morning. Noe’s condition prevents him from attending CCMC services most Sundays as it takes too long walk to the church and too hard for the other children to carry him. It was said that Noe's grandmother attends CCMC and spends time with him when he is there.
Women lead worship in dance and song in the sanctuary of CCMC near the shore of Lake Tanganyika. CCMC is pastored by Jeremiah Rukukuye, who oversees the Congo for Christ Center and the orphans that are raised there. The CCC orphans attend services a couple times a week, typically leading worship as one of the three choirs of CCMC. Church services usually last four to six hours and are one of the few influences by the community from outside the Center's premises.
Residents of Uvira bathing near the CCMC in Lake Tanganyika in the dusty gray of a hazy sunrise on a Sunday Morning. Because of donor support, the orphans have access to more services and resources compared to most children outside of the CCC. There are times that it becomes a tension point with the community.
Echilo Machozi supervises Felix Batende as he waters the orphanage's crops in the early morning on the CCC grounds. Echilo is the Center's farmer, responsible for the "shamba" (garden), while also acting as a member of the kitchen staff cooking for the 57 orphans from 6am to 6pm daily. The orphanage is attempting to provide for itself in more sustainable ways, particularly by growing its own food. The kitchen staff reported that their weekly diet consists of beans, rice, ugali, fish or goat, and a variety of vegetables, including 'linga-linga', a spinach-like plant.
Cheka Zaina (left) and Seraphine Nyota (right) feverishly scoop red-shovel regulated portions from a hot pot of ugali in the sweltering heat of the late afternoon. The kitchen staff begins the day at 6am, although breakfast is not a meal the Center provides. The primary stove and wood storage is a two room building, although the majority of food prep is conducted in a tarped area. The staff employees use small fires, big multi-use pots, plates and plastic bags for their cooking purposes.
Noe works on a Rubik’s Cube on the hilltop above the orphanage. The Center first found him unable to walk, forced to crawl. However, with the help of surgeries and therapy, he has become self-sufficient in many ways. Noe and his peers are poised at a transitional time. Will their care and provision prepare them for the world's realities? Will they "age out" of the system into universities or apprenticeships? Weighed down on one side by challenges, the other side is raised up with hope of a better future.
FOCUS ON INDIVIDUALS
We also visually introduced the CCC community (orphans, staff, community members) through portraiture – signaling the importance of the individual within large child support systems.
IMPACT
Collaborating with A1:8, we immediately implemented the images into mediums that connected with their audience and beyond.
Image application in A1:8 Missions print/digital publications and fundraising materials, further bolstering their media library
Image and verbal presentation of stories and the photographic philosophy of the assignment at A1:8's yearly fundraising event in Washington, D.C
Image and text publication in National Geographic's PROOF (now called 'Picture Stories') reflecting on the personal challenges and temporal feelings of failure while on assignment
Jake captures images that are subtle, nuanced, and focused on things most people don’t see. It’s some of our favorite photographs that we have access to.
Dave Schmidgall, Director, A1:8 MISSIONS
