MAGICAL MALI

Over the last couple of months I have been helping a friend Andy Griffiths with printing an exhibition of pictures he took in Mali. He spent time in Mali travelling and some of the time was at an orphanage. Since arriving back in the UK he decided he wanted to try and sell his work with all proceeds going towards helping the charity.

The exhibition is currently on at Great Western Studios, W2.

Andy's story is below........

In February this year, I left my position as Head of Communications at Diesel to embark on a journey, which would take me to one of Africa’s poorest nations. What I discovered, I fell in love with. My exhibition is a celebration of the Malian people & their happiness in living a simple & fulfilling life.

I spent 2 months working in the Kalaban Coura orphanage in Bamako, Mali. The Orphanage is run by a woman called Madame Fofana Fatoumata Goundourou and is assisted by 3 young girls from the local community. Goundourou started the small-scale orphanage, by chance, over 20 years ago when her sister died suddenly and left her with 9 nieces and nephews. From this moment, she has dedicated her life to caring for the children aging from 6 months to 16 years all with similar stories of abandonment or through a chronic illness. Like most orphans, their families were too poor to afford medical care.

I wanted to capture the orphans inherit sense of caring for each other which, as westerners, we can easily lose sight of. Many people ask me if it changed my life, it didn’t. My experience reconnected me with a heightened sense of our values, especially nurturing & caring for one another. I want the photographs to show a bustling sense of laughter, fun, optimism & personality from wonderfully unique characters.

These wonderful children have water, which is filtered from a local well, three meals a day & shelter at night. What these children need most of all, is an education. An education ensures a greater knowledge of hygiene, contraception &, of course, language.

Every photograph purchased, will ensure a child has an education at a local school with a trained teacher, uniform, books & pencils. 100% of the proceeds from this exhibition will go to the orphanage; no middle men taking their cut; no agency fee; no commission. This is a non-profit charitable project.