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| A view of London across the Thames from Tate Britain. Photo: EMMA MAPP / ABITOFFTHEMAPP PHOTOGRAPHY |
On our trip to Bangladesh last season we visited a young man named Gobinda who has been part of the child sponsorship program. Gobinda has a special talent to see things that others would easily miss. He is also gifted at writing about the challenges in his culture and the poverty that is present at every turn. He and his family are very vulnerable and have no margin of security when things go wrong.
Gobinda heard of a program called “Zoom In” where selected participants are given a camera and told to takes photos of real life situations and then write a short narrative to describe the photos. Gobinda’s pictures were selected as finalists in the competition. He ended up being one of the three people in Bangladesh to win a trip to London, England. His work was displayed along with people from many different countries around the world. Having lived all of his 16 years within a five km radius of his home, this was an incredibly unique opportunity.
The most striking thing about Gobinda is his humility. In entering and winning this competition, he has become an effective advocate for his community and the challenges it faces every day. His family is very proud of him and his community is improving their standard of living by working together more.
