Come along to Offshore Coffee (Gibson St, Glasgow) for a chance to see some photographs from my recent trip to the DRC with the other Christian Aid gappers…
Christian Aid Week takes place from May 10 – May 16 this year. Find out more on the website here: www.caweek.org. For more than sixty years Christian Aid has been providing relief to those hit by disaster, helping people help themselves out of poverty and speaking out against injustice. We’re about helping people, regardless of religion or nationality, on the ground and in the corridors of power.
We live in a world that needs miracles
When the days of signs and wonders look
As distant to us as Kinshasa skies.
When God speaks, we expect the earth to quake
When God acts, surely everything changes.
In prayer, in scripture, we see
A time when miracles spit fire and blood
And faith burns like a star
When lives change in a moment
A word, a touch, a breath
And that change changes all.
Do we live in a world without these miracles
Or are we just too close to see?
Our noses pressed up against a masterpiece
That stretches from horizon to horizon
A miracle of subtle complexity:
A voice amidst the gospel chorus
A needle pulling thread
A choice to love someone in need
Paper envelopes that fall like leaves
And all of these, they have a place,
a time, a reason
Small actions that defy expectation.
The earth turns,
Songs are sung and stories told.
And no one notices the glory of God,
As inch by inch
Step by step
The world alters by faith’s miracles.
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland organised a climate rally outside the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday past, which I was at with my colleagues. There are a few photos in a flickr set here.
I got to work alongside the photo unit on the day, trying to document the march and the day as it progressed. There are photos in this flickr set. Here’s a few of my favourites…
It’s one of those days when EVERYONE is Irish… your grannys cat was Irish? Of course, you must be Irish too! This time last year I had just returned from the US, including a week and a bit in Chicago which goes all out & dyes its river green for St Pats…
I’m hopping on another train this afternoon to go to Coventry. Why? Good question. Christian Aid are partnering with a few other organisations to host a Climate Change Day of Action on Thursday in Coventry. It looks like a great day so far, with a service in Coventry Cathedral where we’ll hear from renowned NASA scientist James Hansen among others, followed by a protest in the streets of Coventry.
There’s still time to come along if you’d like to! Find out more here.
In the past few weeks I’ve been making some decisions about what I’m doing post-June. It’s been terrifying & exciting all at once.
I had the opportunity to apply for an amazing job. It was based in a city with a great arts scene. It was good pay. It was part-time & would have given me enough time to pursue some creative endeavors. It included lots of UK travel, satisfying my itchy feet. It involved lots of interaction with the student demographic. It was for a project I believe in wholeheartedly.
It almost seemed like the perfect job for me.
But it was safe.
I don’t want to do youth work for the next ten years just because I can. I don’t want to be a youth worker. I want to be a photographer. I want to travel and take photographs that change the world. I had to make that decision not to apply, not to go for the logical career move.
Instead, I’m going to Sydney in September for 4 months (to start with…).
[According to David Letterman (The Late Show on CBS)]
1. You just had a pre-meeting to discuss your strategy planning session for the new initiative to reduce poverty by increasing access to safe water/credit/food/health care through fair and equitable distribution to those with the right to said good or service through engagement with duty bearers in the government and other stakeholders and civil society organizations.
2. You just repeatedly slammed your head into your keyboard after spending the last 20 minutes trying to get your Skype conference call between Port au Prince, West Bank/Gaza, Delhi, Nairobi and New York to work only to fail miserably.
3. You realize that you can no longer squeeze into your cubicle past that cool hand-woven cloth from Mali, the wooden mask from Congo, the elephant figurine from Thailand and the rug from Afghanistan.
4. You just completed an annual report to your donor explaining that you’re very sorry that you only managed to accomplish 2 of your 14 objectives due to sudden onset of war, drought or an invasion of futuristic nano-robots.
5. You just finished explaining to the donor that you are likely to need a two-year extension and an extra $200,000 to hire an independent consulting company to come up with a plan to fight off the nano-robots, carry out said plan and then finish up the original activities.
6. You realize that you just used cheers, karibu, Insh’Allah or namaste in casual conversation despite the fact that you are neither English, Kenyan, Arab or Indian.
7. You realize that your favourite and most frequented cafe is located in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
8. You just finished depressing a volunteer caller from the Red Cross for the 12th time this year who reluctantly agreed that you are not eligible to donate blood because you just got back from the Congolese jungle.
9. You’re pumped with antibiotics more frequently than a cow in a concentrated feeding operation
10. You tell yourself it’s not failure if you turn it into a lessons-learned document.
Recent Comments