Description:
"This photo is from the 2002 Nicaragua SAGH Spring Break Service Trip.  We were able to go to an open air market in Granada at the end of the trip where this young girl selling tortillas followed me around for about a half hour as I shopped and helped other group members shop by translating.  She is holding a drink of some sort in a plastic bag which she bought after I bought one of her tortillas.  Our group was in Nicaragua for one week where we worked with Los Chavalitos physicians and stayed with host families."

Title: "Paradise"
Location:  Cancun, Mexico
Submitted by Amy Albers
Category: Faculty/Staff

Description:
"This was an island in Cancun. It was beautiful there so I had to stop and take a memory of my surroundings. It was peaceful and almost surreal."

Description:
"The mother carries her daughter on her shoulders with pride. It is hard to believe that this family lives in a tent in the hot Egyptian sun. The makeup the mother is wearing is retrieved from rocks that are found on the sides of mountains by their camp. They sell this makeup to live in poverty."

Description:
"We used to frequent this tiny bar quite often, as it was off the main street, and was always full of Chileans, not just groups of foreign students like us. We were used to vendors approaching us in the street, but were caught a bit off guard by this man who approached us inside, selling lighters. None of us needed a lighter, but he was a persistent salesman, and I bought one anyway. Such interactions were always disconcerting—inevitably producing feelings of guilt—spawned by an acute sense of my own privilege and economic security. He left the bar, and we returned to our wine, and our confusion over how to consider our role in that community."

Description:
"Durga Puja is the most important festival for Bengalis. The pomp and grandeur is alive anywhere in the world. The celebrations, food, and decorations bring a festive air to the ambience."

Description:
"Mikala was the daughter of one of the women who took care of the church where we stayed. She would often “help” by sweeping the front sidewalk. She was extremely shy and wouldn’t speak, but did let me take her picture this one time."

Description:
"These are the lights of Cape Town City Bowl overshadowed by the presence of Devil’s Peak in the side ground."

Description:
"Here's a picture of one of the famous carts in Jamaica, outside our clinic."

Description:
"This picture was taken in Omaha, NE in front of my apartment. I just wanted to capture the whiteness of the winter right after a snow. So… peacefully freezing!"

Description:
"The walk from the hospital proper to the leprosy colony was set on tedious terrain. After a particularly long day at the clinic, there was the temptation to hurry home for recovery and rest. Such thoughts don’t linger when one notes on the path the hoof-marks made by the shoes of leprosy patients. Awareness of the thick metal soles worn by waiting patients lightened my sandal-clad load."

Description:
"This one is a picture of our students in Jamaica at the clinic after the lights went out: (they black out parts of the country on a regular basis so that the resorts have adequate power, a bit scary if you're a visitor in a 3rd world country)."

Description:
"These four young gentlemen encountered me as I was hiking in the hills around Limbé. After a short conversation, they accompanied me on my walk."

Description:
"Muraling serves as a powerful vehicle for political and artistic expression in Chile. I took this photo while visiting one of the poorest neighborhoods in Santiago. What was once a football stadium had been transformed into a little village by hundreds of homeless and displaced families. This small home stood out amongst the others; the homage to Neruda and the delicate paintings stood as testament to the human instinct for survival, and human capacity to create beauty amidst apparent devastation."

Description:
"Mario was one of the kids who helped us with odds and ends while in Jamaica. One of the afternoons he picked a coconut, Mario ate it in the stairwell of the church we were staying at. I took the picture for a couple of reasons, Mario didn’t really like to have his picture taken and would not pose for them if he could help it, and I wanted to remember the kids who had to grow up so fast."

Description:
"Driving into this village in Lago de Atitlán with a dozen “gringos” in the truck bed attracted much attention. These boys hopped on for questions and conversation with the "gringa."

Description:
"The mother is rolling flour to make tortillas. The daughter waits patiently for her mother to finish. Samples of the tortillas were given to tourists. Mine came with weevils; still eaten with pride knowing she made it just for us."

Description:
"I spent a summer working at a leprosy colony in Nigeria. One morning, I noticed the hands of patients in prayer. Missing fingers mandated that their scarred hands remain open. Such receptivity for life, the gracious and the burdensome, spoke of their perseverance in the midst of isolation and suffering. I now pray with open hands."

Description:
"Neighborhood children gathering water at this community well."

Description:
"This woman is a member of a women’s commune in a village outside of Antigua Guatemala. They live and work together, selling their intricate weavings to sustain themselves. Each item is woven by hand, requiring time and skill, much of which these hands have acquired."

Description:
"This girl and her brother came to see me during my first day of a medical mission trip to Ecuador in March 2003.  The photo is taken in the nursery of the church that hosted us in Guayaquil.  The brother was very interested in what I was doing and wanted to have a look for himself.  I couldn’t help but oblige his request.  Our group from Lincoln Berean Church stayed for one week providing basic medical care to children in Guayaquil and a few surrounding areas where our host church had missionaries.  I was the first medical student to go with the group on this, their fourth trip to the area."