“The mentally ill really are cursed, not by God but by the societies around them. I’ve spent my career documenting human rights issues but I’ve never come across a more neglected or vulnerable group than the mentally disabled in African countries that are in, or recovering from, crises”.
These are the words of photojournalist, John Hammond, a New Zealander now living in South Africa.
John’s campaigning work , known as Condemned, has taken him to Uganda, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Dadaab refugee camp (north-eastern Kenya).
He has witnessed, and documented, the way in which widespread malnutrition causes a huge rise not just in physical disease but also mental illness. Those who are branded as crazy or possessed are kept alive in the most degrading of conditions with no hope of treatment or cure. They often, quite literally, have no voice.
To continue in his valuable work in highlighting this issue, he needs to raise $14,950 to pay for flights, accommodation, food, in-country transport and translators to travel to Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Chad.
As I write, he has so far raised $10,880. This video explains more about the project:
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/30012052]Photographing such horrors can make a difference. John’s previous exposure of the environmental and human destruction in the garment industry in Lesotho caused Gap and Levi to make swift and wide reaching changes to their operations in the country. This work won him an Amnesty International Award in 2010
Visit the website for this very worthy cause and donate if you can.
