It has been a hectic month indeed! Not only have we been blazing at loads of weddings every weekend (3 last weekend), but we also just moved house (during peak wedding season!? Smart move?) but I’m also about to go off to Africa for a month’s charity photography with a charity called Link International, who have various projects in Uganda.
Basically, about 6 months ago I was asked by one of the charity directors, a friend of mine & ace musician called Gavin Mart, if I fancied joining them to photograph & document their latest project.
The backstory is that in recent years they have bought some land just outside Kampala to build a maternity unit. So far they’ve built accommodation on it to house the project team and labourers. But to build the main maternity compound they require some trucks to ferry the building materials around. So Gav the the Link team raised the wonga & bought 4 old 1992 pickups (a vintage year for pickups apparently, and they can scrap & salvage these things to run for ever), and along with an ambulance they’ve been donated, shipped them to Uganda’s nearest port in Kenya.
So what we’re up to is a project of 2 parts:
1)…
Kenya Drive! A team of 10 dudes, including myself are driving 4 trucks from Mombassa, where they’ve somehow magically cleared customs and are waiting for us at the beachhouse we’re kicking off from. We’re gonna drive via Kenya’s national parks, camp here and there (and basically drive between places showing the world cup) to eventually deliver them to the Link International Kampala compound.
I’ve never been on Safari before, and have bought Sigma’s 50-500mm ‘Bigma’ lens specially.
2…
Link international is paired with St David’s College in Wales, and every year 25 kids of various ages and stages fly out to help out where they can for Link International. Half the time will be spent on the Maternity project, and the other half on Safari & riding quad bikes!
Basically I’m going to be shooting stills and filming and am hoping to blog some of the images I catch as and when I get internet access.
So keep your peepers on the blog over the next month for some Africa Action!
The weather in Mombassa, Kenya right now: 31°C and sunny. Wish me luck!
…bagsy drive the ambulance!
ps. If the blog goes quiet for a bit, blame Kenya’s internet infrastructure…