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.  

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