Trafalgar sqaure St Martin’s-in-the-Field Trafalgar Square London Royaume-Uni
WaterAid and Magnum photographer Olivia Arthur have documented the journey out of poverty for three communities in Africa, to show how access to clean water is transforming the lives of the people living there. The photographs will form the Making Ground exhibition at St Martin’s-in-the-Field, Trafalgar Square, London from 2 July -13 August. Olivia Arthur is a critically acclaimed photographer with photo agency Magnum. London born Arthur has exhibited around the world and won many international awards for her work.
Over the course of a year Olivia captured the gradual transformation on visits to two rural villages in Tanzania and a growing town in Uganda’s warring North-East. The exhibition uses personal stories to highlight the huge impact that safe water and sanitation has both at an individual and a wider level. Olivia’s powerful images convey how provision of these basic needs strengthens communities and lays solid foundations for their growth.
The people in Amuria, Uganda know conflict all too well. The surrounding villages have suffered food raids, violence at the hands of child soldiers from rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army, and armed cattle raids by the nomadic tribal group the Karamojong, People forced to flee the fighting have sought refuge in Amuria, dramatically swelling the population, and putting pressure on all basic services in the town. Added to this, in 2007 the region suffered the worst flooding in living memory, devastating people’s homes, crops and taking hundreds of lives.
Making Ground shows how work towards providing access to water and sanitation is enabling people to take their first steps out of poverty, and helping them to move on from the difficulties caused by recent political and climatic incidents. Thanks to WaterAid’s interventions people in the area are growing in confidence and have the courage to start up their own local businesses: cafes, photo studios and small hotels are popping up with a sense of optimism that seemed impossible just a few years ago.
“Water is the key to development – the key to so many things,” said Amuria hotel owner Samuel Okello-Olaka. “This is a small town that’s developing. People are really embracing this water programme, electricity can come second, we need water first. Water is white gold here.” The villages of Chigongwe and Michese in Tanzania, by comparison, live in peacetime but endure a daily battle to survive in a parched environment where water is scarce. In Michese women rise as early as 2am to wait their turn at the only functioning water-hole. The wait can be as long as six hours, followed by a 15km walk to the market to start work.
The lack of water permeates every aspect of life. “The district has problems finding and keeping teachers,” Naomi Chitambi, a teacher from Michese said. “Some come and see that there is no water and electricity, they come for one day and leave. Some children don’t come to school because they have to go and fetch water.” The photographs taken in Chigongwe and Michese offer a moving contrast of life before and after clean water. Whilst WaterAid’s work in all the projects is still ongoing, the benefits are already in evidence. There is a tap stand at the school, women no longer rise in the cold nights to collect water and the health clinic in Chigongwe is able to maintain simple but important standards such as offering patients safe water to wash down medicine, and keeping the place clean.
Photographer Olivia Arthur said: “I am really proud to have been involved with this project. It’s unusual that an NGO gives a photographer the time and space that they need to document development work, but by visiting these communities two years in a row, I was able to see the broader context of the work taking place, and understand how important water can be in people's lives. We met some wonderful characters and I loved the new feelings of optimism that I saw in 2009.” WaterAid’s picture editor Jessica Crombie said: “Working with Olivia has been a huge privilege for us. Her photographs really get under the skin of the communities and show the complexity of our work and the communities we work with. Water and sanitation form the first essential step out of poverty, and Olivia’s pictures capture how life can move on once this first step has been made. It’s been an inspiring project for all involved.” WaterAid has been working in both Uganda and Tanzania since 1983 helping to improve poor people's access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. For more information, please visit www.wateraid.org Related Links