Student's photography of Kenya slum looks beyond smiling faces

It starts on a dirt road; traveling in a small van, bouncing in the back from side to side, as each push forward is interrupted by another deterring rut in the road.

In a way, the road is almost too perfect a metaphor for the lives of the thousands living in the slum of Kibera, one of the largest in Kenya.

Some may recognize it from the movie The Constant Gardener, but despite Hollywood's attempt for a realistic portrayal of the slum, the true reality can only be seen firsthand, traveling on the dirt road, waiting anxiously for tomorrow's unexpected gifts. For one Hopkins student, this account sounds all too familiar.

In Jan. 2010, Sandhira Wijayaratne's life took a turn the moment he stepped onto the plane to Africa. He wanted to help. So when the opportunity arose to travel to Kenya and develop a project of his own, he did not look back.

Wijayaratne, currently a senior at Hopkins, double majoring in Public Health and Sociology, decided to study abroad in Kenya last Spring for four months with the School for International Training.

"We did have some studying, and we did have projects, but for the most part our time was spent traveling and experiencing different things in the country," Wijayaratne said.

With the program, the students learned Swahili, attended house and community development seminars, as well as field of studies seminars, and designed their own field project.

March finally came around, and most students had a good idea of what their projects would be. But for Wijayaratne, the search for his project was just beginning.

Looking back, Wijayaratne recalls the nerves of those last days, and the helplessness he felt without a definite project in the works.

"I was literally freaking out," he recalled. "I was trying to figure out what to do. I knew that I wanted to do something with kids affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic."

As the clock ticked down, Wijayaratne rushed to develop a worthwhile project.

"Initially, I was trying to work in a refugee camp. That took a bunch of paper work and time. We had to develop backup plans in case we didn't get the camp," Wijayaratne said.

When Wijayaratne did not get the refugee camp project, he started to panic. But his luck changed the day he stepped on the plane and sat beside the woman who would become his saving call.

"I talked to someone I met on the plane, and she put me in contact with one of her friends who ran an orphanage in Kenya for children affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic called Angels of Hope," he recalled.

"The whole thing was fortuitous. This probably wouldn't have happened. But it ended up happening to me."

Wijayaratne found himself in Angels of Hope the last month of his stay in Kenya. He worked closely with Regynnah Awino, the headmaster and ounder of the orphanage.

An angel herself, Awino started this organization when she was only 23 years old, initially taking in 40 children who either had HIV or AIDS or had relatives who were infected or died from the disease.

"All of them are affected somehow by HIV/AIDS," Wijayaratne said. " I use the term ‘affected' because it's encompassing."

After working with her, Wijayaratne saw the love that Amino gave to each student and the amount of care she invested into her orphanage. But even with this love came a price.

"Amino provides free early education classes, one free meal program and social counseling for families, but she is raising the cost through her own pocket," Wijayaratne said.

Once Wijayaratne arrived at the orphanage, there were still several problems. The students were on vacation, and classes were not in session. He had originally thought about teaching at the school, but that option was quickly ruled out.

Instead, Wijayaratne started to think practically. How could he take what he experienced and share those vibrant and touching moments with others?

He knew that a picture said a thousand words.

"Since we are all fascinated with pictures, we might not understand completely, but we can gain some emotional output from them," he said. "I interviewed caretakers of parents and after the interviews, I took pictures of kids."

About a month after he returned, Wijayaratne started to compile the photos and interviews into a book.

Flipping through the pages of his book "Faces of Angels," one can experience the impact of a single photograph. Your eyes drift over the soft, dark faces of the children, their smiles locked behind their delicate mouths, their wide eyes smiling for them.

It is through these pictures and stories that the reader is driven into a tunnel of truth and frightening imagery of the Kibera's slum world.

Wijayaratne can remember their eyes, their faces. Even after he took the photographs, the images of the children remained implanted in his mind and in his heart.

"There were a couple kids that were my favorite. One was named Nicole," he said.

"At two years old, she was the youngest at the orphanage. She was abandoned by her parents and locked in her house. Regynnah took her in."

After some time, the kids befriended Wijayaratne. In fact, they couldn't seem to get enough of him.

"They would literally climb over each other to touch me and see my camera," he said.

"Whenever I took the camera out, they would look at me and start screaming ‘cheers' in unison and stick their thumbs up."

These stories were reasons enough to configure a book. But Wijayaratne wanted to put his own touch on it.

"I wanted to do a spinoff of poverty to benefit the people there. I like to think of it as how these kids are, I guess. They have real live futures, if we are willing to invest in them. They should be supported but shouldn't be pitied," he said, his voice steady and genuine.

Wijayaratne made it a point to utilize photography for reasons other than simply aesthetics.

"We all like looking at photos, but when westerners come, I feel like they take pictures for the hell of it," he remarked.

"They don't see the humiliation of the people in the picture."

Wijayaratne is currently trying to fundraise for his book and raise awareness. He hopes to organize several exhibitions on campus to promote his book. But more importantly, Wijayaratne hopes to share his cause with the Hopkins community.

"We need to put ourselves in place of others and open up world issues," he said.

"With this book, I hope to provide some sort of insight that there are people on campus who do care. Since we are one university, we should support each other in our efforts to shed light on other parts of the world."

It is difficult for Wijayaratne to put into words exactly how the trip impacted his life. He went to Africa in hopes of narrowing down what he wanted to do with his future.

"Instead, it broadened my view," he said, laughing a little.

"It was definitely self-enlightening. I learned more things about myself than I thought I could."

One of the questions that Wijayaratne raises in his book is: is it by choice or circumstance that we are born where we are?

When asked about this, he refers back to himself.

"I was born to a Sri Lankan immigrant. If my family decided to stay there, my life would have been drastically different," he said.

"Birth determines a lot of things. You can say ‘you can be any person you want to be', but that's not true when you are stuck in slum."

Perhaps what he says is true. But working with these children has provided Wijayaratne with a different kind of hope.

He has seen this hope in the eyes of every child — as we can see it in his photographs — we can see it in the faces of angels.