The village - 07:57 am

16 Nov 2009

Grant and I got an amazing opportunity this weekend, to travel to a fishing village here on Vamizi Island. The journey there took about an hour as we bumped along on a road strategically carved around coral outcrops. 

We drove as close as we could then got out of the car and walked for about 10 mins, passing small baobab and amarula trees as we went. Our guides had gone ahead of us and asked if it was okay if Grant and I took some pictures while we visited and this seemed to be okay with the villagers. When we arrived there was a small group of men and woman working around a massive fishing net, salted fish was drying on various tables around the village and tons of smiling, happy children were running about. Everyone seemed a little reserved at first but the atmosphere changed very quickly.

I approached a lady holding her young daughter and asked (mostly in hand signals) if I could take a picture of her. She agreed, so I took a few quick shots. I figured she might like to see how nice the photograph had come out and I went over and showed her on the small camera screen. She could not believe it! She laughed and laughed as she looked from this picture to me, then back to the picture again. This may have been the first time in her life that she had seen herself and her child captured in a simple photograph. I think in the age of digital photography we have almost forgotten how special and unique a photograph can be and I am grateful to her for reminding me of that.

Her laughter soon got the attention of the children nearby and pretty soon I could not take photographs fast enough. You have got to love children because no matter where you are in the world they have the same uninhibited sense of curiosity and fearlessness. Grant wanted to get some footage of the village as well, but when the video camera came out he was surrounded in a matter of seconds, and it soon descended into utter chaos. These kids could not decide if they wanted to be in front of or behind the camera, but as long as they were close enough to Grant they knew they were going to see something cool. We may not have been able to get much footage from this visit, but seeing the smiles on their faces made it worth every second.

Our guides were keen to keep moving, because there was still plenty to see. We saw the school, the mosque, the cultural center, the sacred lake, a 400 year old building made out of coral, etc, etc. I could write an entire entry on each of these sites, but for now I must get back to work.

Leahb

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