This year’s event was held at The State Room, which has one of the best views in Boston!

Some of the residents got to come to the Gala as well.  The cute little old men are always my favorite people to photograph :)

Dinner overlooking the city

The awards ceremony

To view more of my favorites from this event, check out the album on Facebook!

This week, one of the organizations dear to my heart has been especially on my mind and in my prayers.  In June of 2008, I was commissioned by Hope For The Children Of Haiti to document their work in Port-au-Prince.  It was a wonderful experience and am I’m so glad that they have been able to use my images to tell their story.  While perusing Facebook the other day, I discovered that a massive and deadly earthquake had hit Port-au-Prince.  As the hours passed, friends more intimately connected to the organization began posting news.  Almost everyone from the organization is alive and accounted for, praise God, but their home and school have been destroyed.  They are sleeping outside on a basketball court.  And I can’t even begin to imagine how much death and destruction is all around them.

If you’ve seen the photographs coming out of Haiti, you may have some idea of the enormity of the damage.  We can almost imagine it because here in the States, we saw Hurricane Katrina’s destruction.  But we’re not talking about the wealthiest nation on Earth – we’re talking about one of the poorest.  We’re talking about a country that has been devastated by hurricanes, mud slides, poverty, and cruel dictatorship… and now this.

This image is from my trip in June 2008, after a rain shower.

Imagine all of these homes, flattened.  What are these people going to do now?  In a country where you don’t always have power, sanitation is questionable, and infrastructure lacking – how are they going to rebuild?

Image taken the morning after the earthquake, from The Big Picture

Even the President of Haiti is without a home…

Image taken from The Big Picture.  I just keep imagining what it would do to our morale in a time like this, if the White House was damaged so badly.

Please pray for this city, and for these people.  Pray for the 50,000+ who have died.  Pray for the tens of thousands left at risk for death by disease and starvation.  Pray for the hundreds of thousands left homeless.  Pray for the children left orphaned, and the parents left childless.  Pray for HFCH as they care for their children, and as more children will surely come.

This was the boys’ home

If you would like to do something to help, please consider giving to Hope for the Children of Haiti.  HFCH has set a goal to raise $250,000 to provide for the immediate needs of the children in their care, to rebuild their homes and school, and to minister to those who are suffering in their community.   With your help, they’ll be able to reach that goal.  As for the GIVE program – all weddings booked within the next 30 days will have only one option for their 10% donation… It will be going to Haiti.

]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2010/01/give-hope-for-the-children-of-haiti/feed/ 3 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/counting-up-the-comments/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/counting-up-the-comments/#comments Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:03:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/counting-up-the-comments/

On behalf of me and my friends at Forgotten Voices International, I just wanted to say THANK YOU!! Over the course of the week before Christmas, you guys left 97 comments on the blog and Facebook!!!! So, I rounded up and just made a donation of $100 to FVI, in your honor :)

This money will make a real difference in lives all over Zimbabwe!

Thank you for being part of what God is doing in Zimbabwe!

And thank you for bringing a smile to their faces!

If you’d like more information on Forgotten Voices, or would like to be a part of the work they support in Zimbabwe and Zambia, please click here! ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/counting-up-the-comments/feed/ 2 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/so-many-comments-so-many-questions/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/so-many-comments-so-many-questions/#comments Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:53:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/so-many-comments-so-many-questions/ Well folks, we’re up to 85 comments between the blog and Facebook! EEK and YAY at the same time! That’s almost enough to send 6 kids to school for all of next year. That’s 6 lives that will be radically changed – forever! Pretty amazing, huh?

So, lots of you have left questions in your comments, so I’ll try to answer them for ya :) Feel free to keep them coming!!

—————————————————————–

jessica said…would you believe that I’ve never watched one of your slideshows before?

Nope! I don’t believe it! With as much time as you spend on this blog, you should have watched them all by now – at least twice ;)

jessica said…is the soundtrack a live recording from the funeral?

jessica said…will the subjects of your FVI photographs get to see their photos?

My friend Ryan is going back to Zimbabwe 10 days from now. He’ll be taking some photos back for some of the families. And those who have access to the internet have seen some – but that’s not many…

jessica said…are you going to go back to zimbabwe?

I hope so!!!

jessica said…there are deep spiritual roots in africa… and with such suffering. did the people you talked to struggle with reconciling their pain with the goodness of God? especially the kids?

It’s pretty amazing how such intense suffering actually causes people to turn TOWARDS God and to see His goodness instead of question it. It’s really amazing.

jessica said…can you tell us how your photographs are being or will be used by FVI? and also the Hope organization in Haiti? i’d love to know =)

Both organizations use the photos for their websites, as well as print material. That reminds me – Hope For The Children of Haiti just updated their website with my pics – www.hfchaiti.org

jessica said…i think your other commenters think i’m weird so i better stop now.

That definitely may be true… ;)

Jamie Sanfilippo said… We are soon (1 month from now) moving to Southern Africa to work with MCC and The Meeting House. As I start thinking about our official blog, I’m wondering if you would be willing to donate the use of a few photos of Zimbabwe to put together into a header for it. I would be happy to give you a byline in the corner if you’d like.

Absolutely Jamie! Let’s talk!

Julianne said… Krista these are beautiful photos… many good friends in them. If it’s okay with you I’d love to post a link from my blog. Maybe I can get a few more dollars! :)

Ryan – ForgottenVoices.org said…

On behalf of our partnerships in Zimbabwe, thanks for this unique way to make a difference. :) To all of you out there, thanks for commenting. Lots of love from our team to all of you. Merry Christmas!

This Christmas, on our blog, we are sharing stories everyday at http://www.TravelwithFVI.blogspot.com.

-Ryan Keith, President
http://www.ForgottenVoices.org

We weren’t supposed to document a funeral. We were supposed to go visit a young woman name Setty who was suffering from AIDS. I thought I’d be taking photographs of a sick young woman who was holding on to hope. But, she died the night before we were to go see her. And so, instead of interviewing Setty, we photographed her funeral.

Setty’s Mother was her only surviving relative in her immediate family. Setty was 28 years old.

Every man in the family and in the community helps with the funeral; each taking turns helping with the casket, shoveling the red dirt, or places stones on top of the grave.

as the women sing and pray.

It’s taken me a year to pull myself together, and pull this slideshow together. I hope it touches you even half as much as being there changed me.

Thanks so much to everyone who has left comments so far! You guys rock :) We’ve got 31 comments so far (plus a few more from Facebook). That’s enough to send these two kids to school for a year! How awesome is that?!

Now 31 comments is great and all but, I can donate $30 on my own. The point of this is for you to CHALLENGE me to give more than I normally would. And, so that YOU will be a part of what FVI is doing – and maybe that you would be moved and want to get more involved. So, get commenting! Got a question about my trip? Wanna share a story about someone you know who has been impacted by AIDS? Have you ever been to Africa? What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever given or received? Wanna talk about your cat? I don’t care, go ahead! :) You don’t have to compliment me, or my photographs – just leave me a comment to let me know you were here and that you care enough about AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe to take 1 minute out of your busy day to leave a comment! It won’t hurt, I promise ;-) ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/only-four-days-left-leave-a-comment/feed/ 20 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/cash-for-comments/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/cash-for-comments/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:00:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/cash-for-comments/ So there’s been a bunch of blogging going on around the photography world in the last couple weeks about Cans for Comments. People have been offering to give one can of food to a local food pantry for every blog comment they received. I think that’s a great idea! And while I LOVE the local approach, my heart this Christmas is a bit further away…

I went to Zimbabwe last November (2007) to document the work of Forgotten Voices International. And I have truly not been the same since. My eyes see things differently now. It’s as if everything is filtered through a different lens – one that makes me see people, food, money, hunger, waste, AIDS, giving, joy, love, and God in a new way.

Last Christmas was incredibly difficult for me. Watching my niece & nephews plow through a MOUNTAIN of presents, having just met and fallen in love with kids who had barely enough to survive… Well, it was painful.

I recently spent some time teaching my sister’s kids about my friends in Zimbabwe – Shelton, Margaret & Concilia. These kids are orphans living on their own, with little more than weeds for food. Try explaining that to a 5, 4, and 2-year-old from America – it’s hard for them to wrap their cute little minds around. But my niece, Reilly, said to me – “Kiki, I know, why don’t we give them some of OUR food?!” It was so sweet and so sincere, it almost made me cry. I wish it was that easy. I wish it was as easy as dropping off some food at a food pantry. But, it’s not.

So, instead of Cans for Comments – I’m going to be giving CASH for Comments. For every blog comment you leave (on any post) between now and midnight on Christmas Eve, I will give $1.00 to an organization that is dedicated to empowering AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe – Forgotten Voices International. As little as $15 can send a child to school in Zimbabwe for a whole year! $65 can provide a person with HIV with a home care kit to help prevent the spread of the disease. A few dollars can make a big difference in a lot of lives!

So, I challenge YOU to help me make a difference in the life of a child in Zimbabwe! Leave a comment! And then leave another. And then ask your friends to do the same. And then go to Forgotten Voices International to find out what FVI is doing to partner with local churches in Southern Africa to provide care for vicitims and orphans of AIDS. And maybe this year, instead of spending a ton of money on presents that no one needs – give a gift on behalf of the ones you love to make a real difference in the life of a child in Zimbabwe!

]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/12/cash-for-comments/feed/ 30 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/10/get-drenched-summer-2008/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/10/get-drenched-summer-2008/#comments Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:55:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/10/get-drenched-summer-2008/ This summer, my church, GENESIS, had another baptism service. This time we headed out to Sandy Beach in Winchester and witnessed four of our friends proclaim their love and devotion to Jesus. It was incredibly moving and beautiful to witness.

So, for those of you who are interested, or who are personally connected to the kids at HFC, I thought I’d offer you a peek the other 2,000 images! You can view them here. Enjoy!!

]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/09/wanna-see-more/feed/ 0 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/haiti/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/haiti/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:01:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/haiti/ Ok, this is my last post on Haiti, and then I’ll have it all out of my system. Well, I may never really have Haiti out of my system, but at least I’ll stop blogging about it every day :) I just wanted to share with you some of my images from the rest of Haiti – outside the pension. The parts of Haiti that aren’t supported by foreign donations…

As I mentioned a couple posts ago, HFC is situated in a rough neighborhood – Bolosse. The school and the pension are closed off from the neighborhood with guarded gates.

Even the kids who live directly next door, only get to peer in from over the barbed wire. This kid’s house is actually above the fence, and I often found him looking over the wall watching the children playing. It made me sad. He can see these kids having fun, eating food, going to school – and he is kept at a distance. Maybe his family can’t afford to send him to the school? Who knows? But I wonder what goes on in this kid’s heart. Is he jealous? bitter? angry? Does he even care? Only God knows… but I know he watches these kids, a lot…

A few more scenes of the neighborhood, taken from inside the walls of the pension.

oh, I love how she’s standing. her stance is so full of attitude.

this. is. haiti.

We wanted to go for a walk around the neighborhood to get a better picture of what it’s like, but we had to wait until one of the men from the pension could escort us. (there’s a very real danger of kidnapping in Haiti). So, we walked up this hill, and at the top was a garbage dump, of sorts. It was also a soccer field where the local kids play… The garbage is everywhere though. Everywhere.

This kid was playing up there, riding his bike around the dump. And he did NOT like me taking his picture…

We also got to tour one of the high-schools nearby. The school is on the property of a seminary that is loosely affiliated with the pension. This was one of the few places we could walk freely. It was a beautiful campus.

We found some boys in an empty classroom singing and playing instruments. They were happy to let us sit down and listen as they rehearsed for graduation. They were such sweet guys and they drilled us with questions about the US, and how it might be possible for them to get there. For each of them, and for many people in Haiti, the dream is to get to America. That’s the only way they can see their life improving.

This school is also where the kids go for Sunday School before church. There are a bunch of other kids there, and a ton of people at the main church as well. It was cool going to church with them, but I did almost fall asleep ;) When you can’t understand creole, it’s a lot harder to pay attention! So, to stay awake, I took pictures of the cute kids…

But, there’s more to Port-au-Prince than just Bolosse! Here are a few shots from our travels around the city…

The President’s house. It was kind of crazy to see this in the middle of everything else…

local markets line many of the streets

And as I said, there’s garbage everywhere. One of the big problems with this is that when it rains areas can flood because drains are filled with garbage. But one of the reasons flooding in Haiti can be so horrible is because there isn’t good infrastructure to allow for drainage. There is just water everywhere, rushing in torrents down the street, and just everywhere. You can easily see why hurricanes that hit Haiti can be so devastating.

Yeah, this is a street we’re trying to drive on. It gives new meaning to the idea of a traffic jam.

And the lovely tap-taps. The tap-taps are like a cross between a taxi and a bus – but the guys who drive them go all-out to make them unique. Each one seems to have a different theme, and often the music blaring out of them will go along with the theme. It was totally entertaining, but I never did get to ride in one…

A view of Port-au-Prince from the hilltop in Bolosse. You can see the President’s mansion, and the football stadium, and the giant section of blue-ish concrete near the bottom is the cemetery – it’s enormous.

This kid approached our car as we were stopped at the light and asked us for money. This kills me when I’m traveling because I know I can’t give it to them without the car being mobbed, and so I can’t give it to them at all. I apologized, but he was a little annoyed with me…

And this is one of my favorite shots. It is exactly what I think of when I think of Port-au-Prince. Miles and miles of concrete dwellings squished together, taking over every inch of space. The reality that I didn’t get to see is that outside the city, where there’s fewer people living in such tight space, it’s very green and lush and beautiful. Maybe on my next trip to Haiti, I’ll get to experience more of that…

And this last shot is one I took on the plane as we left.

Thank you to Hope For The Children for bringing me down to see and experience Haiti and the work you’re doing there. I hope and pray that the images we captured will help you tell the story of your efforts, and of the children – and that God would use them to bless and increase your ministry. ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/haiti/feed/ 8 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hfc-the-school/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hfc-the-school/#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:20:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hfc-the-school/ As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I went to Haiti to document the work of Hope For The Children of Haiti. Their Mission is this: Hope for the Children of Haiti is called by God to give Haitian children, particularly orphans, the opportunity to become well rounded adults who are self sufficient in Christ. One of the keys to fulfilling this mission is giving these children a quality education. And so HFC has started a school that teaches not only the orphans who are part of the Pension, but many other local children as well. Here are some images from my time at the school…

When we first arrived at the school that morning, the kids were in the middle of recess, and were playing all over the place. And MAN do the they love the camera!!! I was instantly mobbed! Since I’m supposed to be documenting life at the school, I was getting a little frustrated because this was not a day in the life of the school – this was mob the photographer day :) But, come on, look at how cute they are! Who can stay frustrated for long?

Of course, not all the kids were interested…

Finally, recess was over and everyone went back to class.
This teacher was totally embarrassed that I was taking his picture (in fact, they all were), so I had to crouch outside the door and try to be incognito. Not too easy with my 80-200mm f/2.8 lens on, but it worked somehow :)

The girls taking rigorous notes on the Haitian Revolution

And one of the boys listening attentively

The little ones couldn’t concentrate that hard. Nor could they see very well. We happened to show up the week the generator died, and there was no power at all during the day. Many of the classrooms, like this one, didn’t have any windows and were almost pitch black. But, school continues…

These poor teachers! Every time I walked by the classroom, the kids went nuts trying to get me to take their picture. Kids were coming out into the hallway, getting out of their seats, and totally freaking out. It was a little funny, but the disciplinarian in me wanted to tell them to go sit back down and listen to their teachers! :)

A teacher going over homework in the light from the hallway since her classroom is windowless.

I love this shot of a teacher going through a book in class. There’s something about the way she’s holding the book and the pages that is just beautiful to me.

Lots of answering questions on the chalk board

even when there’s no light to read your work…

Thankfully, the generator has since been fixed the kids have light to read by again! Lack of power in Port-au-Prince and the cost of running a generator is one of the MANY reasons that HFC needs your support!! If you can, please think or pray about supporting this important ministry, so these kids can get a good education and grow up to be self-sufficient adults that make an impact on the future of Haiti! ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hfc-the-school/feed/ 5 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hfc-life-at-the-pension/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hfc-life-at-the-pension/#comments Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:49:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hfc-life-at-the-pension/ Here’s a little peak at life at the Pension (that’s what they call an orphanage in Haiti)…

They have two main buildings. The main building is the school, girls’ dorm, and space for another adoption agency. The other building is across the street – it’s the boys’ dorm, and it’s called Woodworth’s House (I can’t remember who Woodworth was and why they named the house after him…). Here’s a view of the boys’ house, from the main building. It was laundry day :)

I found this hanging on the wall in the girls’ room. It was incredibly humbling to think of how much this passage must mean to the girl who tacked it on her wall, and how much I have to learn about it’s meaning…

A regular ritual of braiding each other’s hair.

One of the most difficult parts of the trip for me was visiting the babies from the adoption agency. It’s comforting to know that almost all of them will get adopted, most by American or European families. But, seeing their life as it is now… was heartbreaking.

These babies sit in their cribs all day. all. day. There’s a woman in the corner of the room “watching” them, but mostly sitting around. These kids are sitting in wet diapers, stimulating themselves by banging their heads on the mattress, and some seem to have given up and just lay there. The teenage girls from HFC like to play mommy and come get some of the babies a couple times a day – but they don’t take all of them, just the ones they like. I got a few out of their crib and played with them, but I couldn’t take them all out, and it killed me. If you’re even thinking of adopting a child – please consider adopting a child from Haiti or another 3rd-world country. This is the alternative until a family comes along to care for them…

Some of the toddlers from the same agency. It cracks me up that a 3-year-old is braiding the younger one’s hair! Most 3-year-olds can’t tie their shoelaces, how are they gonna braid hair?!

This is one of the little ones from the agency. She followed me around all over the Pension. She wouldn’t let go of my leg, or stop touching my camera, and was just always there. She’s pretty cute, huh? I had to try really hard not to bring her with me…

One of the fabulous cooks at the girls’ dorm. I’m not exactly sure what she’s making there, but I do know that I had to eat it. If you know me at all – you know I’m very picky. A bowl full of mush is not my idea of dinner. But, it’s all they had, and they shared it with me. And I ate it, gratefully.

The view from the dorm. This is practically all these kids see of their community. They live in a really bad neighborhood – very dangerous and violent. They are fiercely protected, and therefore don’t get to play out in the streets or spend time with neighbors. But, they are safe…

This is what teenagers look like at Sunday School… a little bored, and trying not to get in trouble for talking :)

Dinner at the boys’ dorm

The boys’ house-mother

One of the beautiful things about the kids at HFC is that they really are a family. A gigantic family of 60 kids, but a family nonetheless! I love this picture of Wislandy, the youngest girl with her arm around one of her big brothers. It just tells you so much about these kids.

Next up, a look at the school at HFC! ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hfc-life-at-the-pension/feed/ 2 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hope-for-the-children-of-haiti-the-boys/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hope-for-the-children-of-haiti-the-boys/#comments Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:05:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hope-for-the-children-of-haiti-the-boys/ So, you’ve met some of the girls from Hope For The Children of Haiti – now meet a few of the boys…

Mikenlove hanging out on the porch at the Boys’ House

stuck inside on a rainy day

oh, forget, let’s just go play in the rain! Boys don’t mind getting wet and dirty, right?

they sure love football!

I can’t get over their view from their football field!

Rejoicing over a goal :) This is back at the orphanage where they were playing football with a plastic bottle. It was rather impressive.

One of the things I love about boys in other cultures… They hold hands with each other! It’s precious.

Jefthe looking very serious

studying hard

Richecarde smiling for the camera

and this kid was laughing so hard he fell down :)

The boys were a totally different set of characters than the girls. Much less camera-shy. Some even went out of their way to pose for me – too much even. :)

They were also a really fun group of boys who laugh a lot – which is always a good thing, especially in a place like Haiti! ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hope-for-the-children-of-haiti-the-boys/feed/ 4 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hope-for-the-children-of-haiti-the-girls/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hope-for-the-children-of-haiti-the-girls/#comments Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:12:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hope-for-the-children-of-haiti-the-girls/ If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I went to Haiti in May/June to document the work of Hope For The Children Of Haiti. I’ve held off on blogging about it because I wanted to focus on getting the first few weddings up first. That, and I’ve got like a zillion pictures I’d like to share, so I had to take the time to narrow it down a bit.

I’m finally ready and I thought I’d start with the girls at HFC. There are about 30 of them, ranging from 8 -17 years old. It took a while for them to warm up to me, and to stop running away from my camera, but it was really fun getting to know them. And it was a great reminder that teenagers are teenagers, no matter what country you’re in :)

Here are a few of my favorites of the girls!

waiting to be introduced to the visiting photographer …

hanging in their room – giggling and having fun

Aw, Debbie, she’s such a sweetheart. And would you get a load of those eyes!! Gorgeous!

Wislandy, the baby of the crew. Such a cutie!

Listening intently to a sex-ed talk. Their eyes aren’t glassed over or anything ;)

Chrystel… Little Miss Attitude and the woman in charge (if you ask her). But, I found her in this nice moment doing chores where she was all alone, and let her guard down a bit, and I almost got a smile.

Fabiola hanging out the back of the Tap Tap (it’s basically a pick-up truck with a metal cage on top to keep the passengers safe, or dry)

And, last but not least, Nerline. This girl ran and hid from my camera the ENTIRE time I was in Haiti! On the last day, I had had enough, and I stalked her relentlessly until I got a couple photos of her before she saw me. Somehow, this made her love me dearly. Go figure :) So, here we are, right before I left to go home. She couldn’t stop hugging me and even cried when I left. That’s what I love about teenagers… they’re totally unpredictable.

I wish I could share more with you all, and tell you stories about each and every one of the girls – but there just isn’t enough time in the day! :)

If you’re interested in supporting Hope For The Children of Haiti, and helping these girls get the care and education they need to make a difference for their country, please click here. ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/08/hope-for-the-children-of-haiti-the-girls/feed/ 6 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/06/get-drenched-2/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/06/get-drenched-2/#comments Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:08:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/06/get-drenched-2/ This post has been a LONG time coming! With all of the traveling, eSessions, and now weddings – I’ve been a bit behind on my personal work. But I just had to get this one done this week! I couldn’t wait any longer :)

On Easter Sunday of this year, my church held a baptism service both in the morning at Hope Christian Church, and in the evening at Genesis. Before getting baptized, each person got up and shared their story and explained why they decided to make this commitment. It was very powerful to hear their testimonies and both services were just amazing!

In the morning, we had 3 boys from the youth group get baptized. Our Youth Pastor, David went into the water with them and prayed over each boy. It was really cool to see how confident and excited these guys were that morning!

It was especially cool to witness Sarah’s baptism. Her father had the honor of stepping in to the water with her. It was definitely a special moment for both of them.

Later that night, some of my friends at Genesis also took the plunge. The testimonies were very real, very emotional, and very powerful that night. My brother-in-law, Michael is our Pastor and he was so excited to pray for and baptize each of them. It was such a blessing to witness!

This is one of the girls in my LIFEgroup, Elyse. She’s just amazing, and I was so proud of and happy for her that I could totally not keep from crying. Even now, I’m tearing up!

And this is my girl, Meaghan, yo! ;) She’s also in my LIFEgroup and is getting ready to go on staff with Campus Crusade. I am still praising God for the impact this night had in her life and in the life of those around her!! (If you’re interested in supporting Meaghan in her ministry, let me know, or click here)

What a wonderful way to celebrate Easter! Check out the slideshow for more…

]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/06/get-drenched-2/feed/ 2 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/06/back-from-haiti/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/06/back-from-haiti/#comments Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:48:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/06/back-from-haiti/ Well, I’m officially back from Haiti and back to work! It was a great trip and I’m really excited to go through the 4,200 photos I shot! But, first things first – I’ve got engagement sessions waiting for me. So, I guess you’ll all have to wait a little while too…

To tide you over, here’s a shot of Bolosse – the area of Port-au-Prince where I spent most of my time.

More to come!!! ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/06/back-from-haiti/feed/ 6 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/05/out-of-the-country/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/05/out-of-the-country/#comments Wed, 28 May 2008 03:29:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/05/out-of-the-country/ Well, it’s about 4 hours before I have to leave for the airport, and I still haven’t packed for my trip to Haiti! But, such is life :) It’ll all get done somehow, even if it means I don’t sleep – at least I’ll sleep on the plane that way. haha!

I’ll be in Haiti until late Monday night, June 2nd. Please pray for a good safe trip. Pray that I would stay healthy, and that this picky eater would be able to eat whatever is put in front of her ;), and pray for some awesome photographs that HFCH will be able to use to increase their ministry in Port-au-Prince!! Thanks for taking this journey with me. I can’t wait to come home and share some photos with all of you!

I will be without email & internet access until Monday (eek!), so if you don’t hear back from me, that’s why :) I’ll do my best to respond to all emails when I get back to work next Tuesday.

When I met Ryan Keith of Forgotten Voices International, he told me the story of a boy named Peterson. Peterson was born with HIV. When Ryan met him, Peterson was a 7 year-old boy living with his mother and his 4 year-old sister, Prudence in a rural area of Zimbabwe. The very same day Ryan met them, Peterson’s mother died from AIDS. Before she died, she asked Ryan to promise to take care of her children – and he did. And that is basically how Forgotten Voices was formed – from a promise. The story continued as Peterson was left to live alone with and take care of Prudence, who was also born with HIV. Prudence had never learned to walk or talk and was basically given up on by her community. But Peterson took care of her – he carried her on his back to school and to physically therapy at the mission hospital nearby. She began walking, and talking, and was even given the job of chasing the monkeys away from the garden. But, one year after their mother died, Prudence died as well. And then Peterson lived alone…

It was after hearing this story that I knew I needed to go to Zimbabwe. And the entire time we prepared to go, I just kept looking forward to the day I would get to meet Peterson too. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew this was a kid I needed to meet.

When we arrived at Peterson’s home, he was a bit shy to meet all of us.

We were thrilled to find that Peterson was no longer living on his family’s homestead alone. His aunt had moved in to care for him, and had hired a farm-hand to help out and take over the chores that Peterson had done. And in January he was supposed to move to his Grandparents’ farm to live with them and the rest of his extended family. What a blessing that his family has been able to step up and take care of him!

We were all surprised and thrilled to watch Peterson running and playing with his friends. He seems to be in great health and having so much help around has freed him up to just be a kid and enjoy life. What an incredible blessing!

He loved Adam’s video camera

and turned out to be quite the videographer himself…

Peterson & Ryan showed us to the place on the property where Prudence and their mother was buried. He is such a brave little boy.

I am so blessed to have met Peterson. I hope that I will meet him again someday, and I pray that he would stay healthy and get to keep being a kid for as long as possible!

I’ll leave you with the many faces of Peterson…

Adam and I went into town to buy a rain coat for the Bishop’s daughter, who’s in secondary school near where we were heading. Seems like a simple thing, right? Not in Zimbabwe…

Adam & I found the store, and when we got there, there was a huge crowd queued up out front. This is the whole problem with Zimbabwe right now – there’s never anything on the shelves and when they get something in stock everyone lines up to wait for it. Luckily, we got there just as the doors were opening and so we pressed into the store with the rest of the crowd. As a good documentary photographer, I was taking pictures. Granted, I know that’s illegal there, but I thought if I held my camera on top of my bag, and shot without looking, maybe I could get some shots without drawing attention to myself. Sounds like a great plan, right? Well, I was wrong.

We were in line waiting to buy the coat, and a guy came over telling me he was a policeman. (He wasn’t wearing a uniform or anything, but he could have been part of the CIO). He told me that I can’t take pictures in the shop. I apologized and said I would put it away, no problem. Acted as innocent as I could, smiled real big, and kept saying that I just had it out and didn’t realize that’d be a problem. So, I shoved it back in my shootsac and acted like it was no big deal and he walked away. But as we’re buying the coat, I see this guy telling everyone he passes that I have a camera. So, I’m trying not to freak out, and praying that this will be the end of it.

We go outside and start walking towards the car when this guy comes up with another “cop” in plain clothes. They tell me that I’m not allowed to take pictures. I say, I didn’t realize and I’ve put my camera away and that I don’t have any pictures (not entirely true, but I was freaking out and afraid that I could be taken to jail and start an international incident or something – not exaggerating). I showed the guy photos from the sunset the night before trying to show him that there’s nothing bad on the card. I even tried showing them a photo of the store I took outside and deleting it in front of them, in hopes that that would pacify the situation. The guy just yelled at me and said that just because I delete the evidence doesn’t mean I didn’t commit the crime! They said that maybe we should just go down to the police station (eeek!) and I asked (as respectfully as possible) if they had some sort of badge and could identify themselves as officers. They acted offended and said “let’s just go to the central station.” So, I tried desperately to call Ryan at TCZ while Adam tried to rationalize with these guys.

I couldn’t get through to the seminary, and they just kept harassing us. My friend Adam was trying to be very diplomatic and helpful, but basically made me freak out worse. As I’m trying to text Ryan, I hear Adam ask the guys to call over the police officer in uniform on the other side of the road. What the crap?!?! I think he thought that if these guys weren’t cops, that that would scare them off. Well, it didn’t! So, in a swift move, I formatted my memory card and got rid of all the pictures (in the end that wasn’t necessary, but better safe than arrested in Zimbabwe!). The real cop comes over and talks to the guys in Ndbele and then the guys decide that we should drive them to the police station. They actually want to get in our car! I’m freaking out! Adam is trying to talk to them about “compensating them for their time” dealing with us. Meanwhile, we’ve been there for 30 minutes and are drawing a crowd. So, the guys get in the car, we drive around the corner and Adam starts trying to bribe them. That takes so long that 2 real cops come stand by the car – which freaks out the fake cops and we drive around another corner. Adam tries to bribe them with the equivalent of $3 US – they’re offended and let us know that the bribe will be split with the real cop too so it needs to be more. So, then Adam tries the 3,000,000 Zim plus American cash. Instead of using a larger bill, he tries a ONE DOLLAR BILL! By that point I was almost more angry with my friend than these guys. ONE DOLLAR?????? Either bribe them or flatly refuse and drive away, but geez! They were, of course, offended again.

In the end, we got away with giving them 7,000,000 Zim dollars ($7 US) and a couple bags of chips.

It was the strangest experience of my life. And I thank God that they weren’t actually police or CIO, and that we made it out with our freedom in tact, if not our dignity and definitely not the photos… ]]> http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/02/zimbabwe-a-run-in-with-the-cops/feed/ 0 http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/01/zimbabwe-a-day-at-the-rock-church/ http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/01/zimbabwe-a-day-at-the-rock-church/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:49:00 +0000 Krista Guenin http://kristaphotoblog.com/2008/01/zimbabwe-a-day-at-the-rock-church/ And now, back to our previously scheduled programming… Stories from Zimbabwe!!

My first Sunday in Zim, we went to The Rock Church outside Bulawayo near where we were staying. The Rock shares a building with many other groups in the community – it serves as a mosque, temple, church, meeting hall, etc. throughout the week.

A little girl listening intently to the message.

Some of the girls after the worship service.

After worshipping at The Rock, Pastor James took us around the community to meet some of the families that the church supports with the help of Forgotten Voices. This woman takes care of her 2 grandchildren, who’s parents have died.

this is the only “chair” in her house

This is her granddaughter. She was a bit shy, and couldn’t stop laughing at us crazy white people with our big cameras

This is her grandson. He can’t go to school because he can’t walk. So, he sits here all day. If you click on the image, you can look closely to see how damaged the skin on his knees is from crawling around on the dirt. He was incredibly sweet even though this picture makes him look like he’s got quite a bit of attitude!

The kids in front of their home

A neighbor

The next woman we visited was yet another Gogo taking care of her grandchildren.

She thought I was HILARIOUS and could not stop joking with me, laughing at me, posing for me, and just generally being her spunky ol’ self. I love her!!

This is her grandson. I think it’s pretty hilarious that the most popular TV show in Zimbabwe is big-time Wrestling. Everywhere we went, kids were talking about it, wearing t-shirts, had posters on their walls, or were watching it. How random is that??

He’s a handsome kid, huh?

Here the ladies busted out singing and dancing for us

they couldn’t do it too long before they started laughing uncontrolably!

After visiting some families, we went to see The State House – otherwise known as Pastor James’ new home which will be used as a refuge, meeting place, and temporary home for people in the church. Pastor James has been building this house all by himself – even making his own bricks until Forgotten Voices decided to chip in and pay for the construction and cement blocks. James is very proud of his new home, and can’t wait to open it up to the orphans in the community who need a home. He is literally, the nicest man I’ve ever met – and I am blessed to know him.

The State House under construction

Pastor James (center) with 2 other men from The Rock.

A neighbor who came to visit

The view from The State House

After all of that visiting, we were pretty tired, so we went back to the King’s home to rest. Some of us still had plenty of energy to play on the trampoline…

That afternoon, Warren wanted to take us for a drive to see the sunset from the highest point in the area, on his friend’s farm. Well, we got a late start, and ended up seeing the sunset from the road. But, it was still beautiful…

That’s it for our day at The Rock Church! I’ve got lots more stories to share, so stay tuned…