The Teso tribe of East Africa numbers about 3.5 million people, most of whom live in NE Uganda. After Kampala, Tesoland was the first place I visited in the country. Nearly three years later I still hold it in my heart as one of the most special places in the world. Centuries old traditions remain firmly engrained in the culture here.  While that’s not unique among tribes in Africa, rarely are they so welcoming to outsiders as the Teso.  Take, for instance, their nearby cousins, Kenya’s Turkana.  During colonial times even Great Britain dared not enter their tribal lands.  The colonial power shut off the Turkana Region and required a special pass of any outsider wishing to visit.

Above, villagers enjoy beer and peanuts at the local bar. The local brew, shared from a communal clay pot, is concocted from millet and sucked through long straws made from reeds.  In the past twenty years, the Teso have endured much hardship: two armed rebellions (including Joseph Kony and the LRA’s infamous 2003 incursion), floods, drought, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and cattle raids from the neighboring Karamojong tribe. However, you wouldn’t know it if you were to travel here. The Teso remain resolute and joyful.  It’s all water under the bridge.

Watch the above video about a private primary and vocational school in Amuria, in the heart of Tesoland. Living Hope Education Center currently educates over 300 pupils, many from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds. When I’m not out shooting, I sit on Living Hope’s advisory board. We’re currently getting ready to begin a volunteer-teacher program at the school. For those willing to make the step out here, shoot me an email. The musical performance for this piece was captured at the Teso Traditional Music Competition in Amuria.

In 2008, Population Services International received funding from the SALIN initiative, under the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to support the Malian Ministry of Health in their effort to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate in the country. PSI began expanding its existing family planning program to include promotion and delivery of long-acting, reversible contraceptives, such as intrauterine devices and hormonal implants, in Bamako’s public health centers.

Once Mariam heard that the public health clinic in her neighborhood was offering long-term methods of family planning for free, she decided to use the implant. With SALIN funding, PSI has been able to reach nearly 5,000 women like Mariam with long-term methods of contraception since 2008.

I’ve just completed nine days in Sri Lanka with ChildFund documenting recovery efforts in rural areas. Schools and community centers were severely damaged during the civil war. ChildFund is building newer, better centers with the help of the local community on the ground. Throughout this, the organization’s educational, nutritional, and growth-monitoring programs continue. They are ever so important here among a population that has been devastated by upheaval. Despite this, Sri Lanka was perhaps the warmest and friendliest place I’ve been in some time, to which these photos will attest. The majority of meals I ate were in homes rather than at my hotel.

I shot two videos spots during the week, the first of which is about Dilshan, whose family struggled to keep him in school until ChildFund’s agricultural programs stepped in. The spot will air on cable television in the US, and I have to keep it hidden until after it does. Below Dilshan harvests brinjals, one of Sri Lanka’s many exotic vegetables. It’s like a tart eggplant, but with a firmer texture. I’m certainly going to miss the great variety of food here.

Below is the second video I shot, and have just put the finishing touches on. It focuses on ChildFund’s reconstruction of Early Childhood Care and Development centers, or ECCDs, which are a launching point of ChildFund’s programs in the community.

Below, ECCD coordinator Chamila Krishanti talks to parents at a home-based ECCD, wherein adults learn about activities to stimulate their young children’s minds at home, and about proper nutrition and diet for their families.

If you count the video below, I shot three in total. Officially, Sri Lanka drives on the left-hand side of the road, though this is more of a guideline than a rule. Several times I thought I could be filming the last moments of my life. Without a freeway system, Sri Lanka’s roads cut through populated areas and make for a few close calls.

Not many of us can claim to have saved 100,000 lives. I recently spent a week in Rwanda photographing jointly for the Gates Foundation and the Global Fund, two of the greatest change-makers in global health today. The Gates Foundation is a major contributor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. Together they save an estimated 100,000 lives each month. Above, a child receives a polio vaccine in a public health center in Kabuga, Rwanda.

While health care is a controversial issue across the world, especially in US politics, we in the West might view it differently if were we dealing with the same epidemics people face in places like Sub-Saharan Africa. Here, UN, PEPFAR or Global Fund-supported public health centers are the primary means for accessing care for diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV. Treatment for such diseases would be far out of reach for most individuals were it not for donor agencies.

Above, community health care worker Angelique Uzamukunda (r) measures the diameter of four year old Elie’s arm with the help of his mother in order to monitor his nutrition levels. Angelique, also shown below walking along a roadside in the town of Rumyongza, monitors members of her community for signs of HIV, TB, malnutrition, and malaria, and makes referrals to local health centers when needed.

Prevention programs are also part of the Global Fund‘s strategy. Research shows a 60% decline in transmission of HIV from female to male after circumcision. The procedure is now in high demand since the Rwandan Ministry of Health has been offering it for free every Saturday. Below, Dr. Semana Cyrille talks with young men as they queue for circumcision operations at Kibagabaga Hospital in Kigali.

I’ve been in Africa long enough to remember a time when anti-retroviral therapy (ARV) was not available. As a volunteer at an orphanage in 2002, I recall one three-year old child dying on the first week of my arrival there. I’m hopeful that these days are in the past.

Above, Nutritionist Claudette Kayitesi counsels François Iyamuremye as he receives his monthly anti-retroviral medication at a clinic in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. Nearly 100,000 people (seems to be a magic number) are supported with essential ARV medication by the Global Fund in Rwanda alone. Proper adherence to treatment and diet are an essential part of the ARV regimen. The medication is never unaccompanied by counseling.

Our team documented François and his family’s life for two days while in Rwanda. Both he and his wife are HIV positive. François also leads a class of HIV victims where he discusses adherence to the medication and ways patients can deal with stigma surrounding the virus in their communities.

3.3 million people are currently receiving ARV treatment through the Global Fund. Following the global financial crises, contributions to the fund from donor governments have been down. Isolationist rhetoric coming from some US presidential candidates is also troubling. Perhaps we should keep in mind that not all interference in the affairs of other nations need be for strategic political gain.

François’ wife Jacqueline, shown above, together with her husband, was diagnosed with HIV before the birth of their last child, Thierry. Shown below on right, with his sister Lyzette, Thierry’s status is negative thanks to Global Fund-supported Rwandan government programs. Jacqueline is determined for her children to remain HIV negative throughout their lifetimes and has begun to educate them about the disease even at their early age.

At a loss for what to give for Christmas gifts this year? Why not a goat, pig or clean water in honor of a friend or loved one? Go to ChildFund’s online gift catalog to begin your shopping spree. Much of the photography, including the cover shot, is by yours truly.

Follow this link to navigate through a unique interactive about the Gates Foundation‘s initiative to reduce poverty by empowering small farmers in the developing world.

His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, recently stopped by WaterAid projects in Dar es Salaam as part of his state visit to mark Tanzania’s 50 years of independence from Great Britain. His Royal Highness didn’t seem bothered by Dar’s extreme heat and kept tradition by wearing his trademark double-breasted suit.

No one knows the identity of the man immediately to the left of the Prince in the above photograph. I took great pains to try to find out for captioning purposes. In spite of the tight security, the unidentified man managed to inch his way up to His Royal Side during the tour, making him the ultimate party crasher. It was clear he enjoyed being photographed, however, as in most of my photos he preferred to glare at the lens rather than schmooze with the Prince, as shown below. He disappeared right after His Royal Highness made his exit.

Our uninvited guest ought to take some fashion tips from the Prince. What’s with that short-sleeved suit? This was the first time I’ve seen such an outrage openly flaunted.

I stayed on to photograph other water and sanitation projects in the area, including the use of foot-activated DIY hand-washing stations seen below.

It’s good to be back at work in Uganda again. Of the all African countries I frequent, it seems to be the place where I spend most of my personal time, but where I actually work the least. For this assignment I traveled with Tracey Spicer, an Australian journalist and news anchor who was reporting on the work of ActionAid for the Daily Telegraph and other editorial and broadcast outlets.

Spicer highlighted ActionAid‘s work on women’s rights and domestic violence in Eastern Uganda. She knows first-hand what it’s like to experience gender discrimination. Her firing in 2006 from Network Ten (via email) after returning from maternity leave garnered much attention in the media and started a nation-wide debate about gender discrimination in the workplace. Since then she has been bringing to light the stories of voiceless women who have faced hardship or abuse.

Click on the article above to read the story from the Daily Telegraph of Jennifer Alupot, one of the women we encountered on our assignment. It’s shocking to read that 68% of women have reported being abused by their husbands in this country. How many more instances go unreported? The above story, and the nation-wide outrage it engendered when first reported, led to the adoption in 2009 of the first law against domestic violence in Uganda.

ActionAid not only works with victims of domestic violence, but also politicians and community leaders in order to advocate on a broader basis and effect change on a larger level. Below is Mr. Claudius Kikonkolo, one of the elders of Kole village in Uganda’s Pallisa District. Following ActionAid’s intervention, the elders of this village allowed women more rights in their society, including the right to own land.

We also spent some time covering the aftermath of hailstorms in the East. A series of football, yes football, sized hailstorms in this region of the country flattened the houses and ruined the harvests of many small farmers this year. Because of the loss of harvest many went hungry, and incidents of malnutrition increased dramatically. Below, The Kaula family sits together amidst the rubble that was their house in Nsinze Village, Namutumba District.

Traveling on Uganda’s roads during the rainy season can be fun. We managed to become stuck a couple of times in muddy potholes, though not as badly as this lorry did. It was forced to unload its cargo before inching its way through the muck. Below, a motorcycle bears a coffin across the Nile River in Jinja.