Tibi Tendlu, The Dirt that Binds

​2015-2016 Swaziland, Southern Africa
Portraits made in conjunction with Swazi women who participated in the Tibi Tendlu, Dirt That Binds Program. See here for more information.

Unbreakable
Swaziland, 2009

In 2009, I was blessed with the opportunity to be a visiting artist in Swaziland, Africa, through the United States Embassy.  I led mask workshops in an orphanage (consisting mostly of children orphaned due to their parents dying of AIDS) and photography/audio workshops with members of an HIV support group in the rural village of Timbutini. During my stay in the strikingly beautiful, yet poverty stricken, HIV rampant country, I was haunted by the thought that such a prolific beauty could be so demoralized. Despite my deliberations, I did not meet tearful victims; I met pure unbreakable spirits, reminding me that “the same hammer that shatters the glass forges the steel” (Russian Proverb).  I am forever humbled by the beauty, strength and hope that was shared with me.  

See here for more information.