Assignments in Africa.

Africa is probably my most favourite continent to work in, even if it is also one of the most difficult and sometimes dangerous. I have been very fortunate to visit several African countries over the years for a variety of different assignments. Possibly my favourite country was Ethiopia where amongst other things I illustrated an article on Female Genital Mutilation. In Namibia I photographed animals and people. On several visits to Kenya I photographed people and animals again. I photographed prostitutes who had never contracted HIV despite having un-protected sex. And I also documented the return of the white Rhino to Uganda (from Kenya) after it had been hunted to distinction. In Uganda (as well as the rhinos) I covered the devastating floods. And in two trips to Nigeria I was commissioned to do book on Kings College, Lagos.... the 'Eton of Africa'. These are the highlights of many amazing visits to the continent.

Afar Region, Ethiopia.

Girls reaching puberty who are the first generation in the region who will not be subjected to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The NGO Care International have been working tirelessly with village elders to persuade them not to put their girls through FGM and have finally managed to change hundreds of years of practice of this barbaric procedure.

None of these four girls will have to have FGM.

Afar Region, Ethiopia.

A girl of 'marrying age' who has not had FGM. As well as stopping the procedure from happening, Tribal Elders had also to be educated that a woman was no less desirable as a wife if she had not had the procedure done.

Afar Region, Ethiopia.

A mother who endured FGM a the age her daughter is now, smiles because her village has decided to totally discontinue FGM for all it's girls.

Afar Region, Ethiopia.

Three generations of a village tribe sit together to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. The lady on the right is the person who, for years, had undertaken hundreds of FGM procedures on all the girls in the village. The lady on the left had FGM at puberty but her daughter will not have to have the procedure done. The old lady is grateful that there will no longer be FGM.

Afar Region, Ethiopia.

A young girl drinks water from a tap installed by the NGO Care International in the Afar region of North-Eastern Ethiopia. Regularly one of the hottest places on the planet, The Afar region is gripped by drought regularly.

Before the tap was installed, these women and girls had to walk nearly ten miles to get fresh water.

Afar Region, Ethiopia.

Women in a simple shop which the NGO Care International helped to set up with village elders.

The shop acts as a focal point for all matters of commerce. Not just in the selling of small items but also as a very basic bank. In addition, farmers are encouraged to deposit in the grain-store when crops are flourishing so that there is a fall-back during times of drought.

Nairobi, Kenya.

Canadian and Kenyan scientists who discovered a small group of prostitutes who have had unprotected sex with thousands of men, many of whom were HIV/AIDS positive, but have remained immune to the disease.

The women, from Nairobi's poorest slum 'Majengo' , have been studied for some 20 years in the hope that they hold the key to developing a vaccination/cure for AIDS.

45-year-old prostitute Salome Simon sits in the 10 foot by 8 foot hut which is her home, and from where she plies her trade. Salome, a grandmother, has been a prostitute for over 20 years and has had un-protected sex with, it is calculated, up to 50,000 men, many of whome were HIV/AIDS positive.

Salome has never contracted HIV/AIDS and has become the centre of study by the scientisits who are trying to work out why.

Nairobi, Kenya.
Canadian and Kenyan scientists who discovered a small group of prostitutes who have had unprotected sex with thousands of men, many of whom were HIV/AIDS positive, but have remained immune to the disease.

The women, from Nairobi's poorest slum 'Majengo' , have been studied for some 20 years in the hope that they hold the key to developing a vaccination/cure for AIDS.

Sex workers queue at the slums clinic for sexual workers to be checked over.

Nairobi, Kenya.
The children of sex-workers sit outside the simple huts as their mothers work just a few feet away. Two potential clients cruise the alleyways looking for a prostitute.

Kings College, Lagos, Nigeria.

Kings College, Lagos, a boys-only Secondary School was established by an Act of British Parliament in 1909. In the words of the colonialists at the time, it was established "To produce students of profound character and academic distinction – men who would build an independent Nigeria".

For many years Kings was regarded as the 'Eton of Africa'.

Boys hand washing their clothes at sunset.

Kings College, Lagos, Nigeria.

Over-crowded and shabby boys dormitory.

Kings College, Lagos, Nigeria.

Boys queue up to buy items from the tuck-shop. The vendor is pouring a fizzy drink into a plastic bag so that he can claim the refund for returning the bottle.