Melinda Kerr

Hehe I’m stoked…
Red Bubble has very very generously offered me the opportunity to sell my charity stuff with free delivery until the end of June.
My thanks to Peter who offered this and I am rapt to accept.

For those of you who don’t know all my African work’s mark up goes to HEAL Africa…. Their website is here

They are in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo – Central Africa. Two years ago I was privileged to go their as a photographer volunteer and capture the visual stories of their work.

They live at the front line of the horrific war in Congo, the worst war since world war two. This war results in atrocities beyond belief, predominantly afflicted on women and girls who suffer the debilitating fistula from rape and early pregnancies gone wrong. This results in an internal tear which renders them incontinent and commits them to a life of constant leaking and solitary confinement from family and village life.

Bluntly put, they die in their own urine and feces. Alone. Sometimes they are 5 years old. Sometimes they are 95.

HEAL Africa (amongst a heap of other things) finds these women (there are 10’s of thousands of them) and brings them to the hospital to perform a fistula operation. They then help repatriate them back in to ‘normal’ living.

Once you’ve stood as I have in their waste and met these women, you can’t turn your heart back.

The work here (and a few other places) has raised enough money for 5 fistula operations…all monies passed on and receipts shown here. If you have any concerns about legitimacy you can also contact the charity direct.

I will get around to marking what’s HEAL Africa in my folio and what isn’t (famous last words….!!!) But rest assured ANYTHING African is…including HEAL Africa t-shirts which you will find in there too.

So there you have it. The code for the shipping is melinda.

I ask you not to abuse the code and use it on other things…I trust you :)

Again my thanks to RB. They’ve put up with my whining long enough :)

And my credit to the courage of the people of Congo.

I’ll sign off with my two favourite expressions…

Don’t just be moved…..move.

It’s not the third world, it’s our world.

Peace.

x