So tonight I picked up a prostitute...

...And I also dropped her home again.  Technically 100% accurate, if perhaps in need of some further clarification!  

Here's the thing.  Basically, a few nights ago a friend of mine was at the bus terminus waiting to collect someone from the bus when he was propositioned by a prostitute.  For some reason (perhaps caught a little off-guard?!) when asked 'are you looking for a good time tonight?' he replied something along the lines of: 'you know, I'm looking for so much more in life than just  fleeting moments of gratification!' Which I guess is possibly not your standard brush-off  and perhaps slightly more than she bargained for!  On realisation that she'd picked a non-starter, you could expect the lady might move her attention elsewhere, however she was a little  intrigued and there followed further conversation.  At the end of it he took her number, not for professional purposes, he did stress!  Soon after, I heard of this exchange and felt really struck by the story.  I knew he had mentioned that a small group of us meet regularly to explore together what it means to be loved by and special to God and to unpack this with relevance to our lives.  I know he said that if she was interested in that kind of thing, we could make a plan to collect and drop her so that she could come along.   If she ever wanted to.  And apparently, she seemed quite interested in that.  I'd been thinking about it and so yesterday I rang her and introduced myself and we made arrangements for today.  We set up a meeting place (in hindsight, rush hour at a busy bus terminus wasn't the simplest way to find each other!) but we made it and then we'd a good evening talking over dinner with some others.  We chatted and looked at the bible a bit, and then at the end as we drove home, she asked if she could join us again this coming Sunday.  We talked in the car, she asked what I do and so as well as talking about theatre and arts things, I told her about The Precious Life Foundation, how in various ways it supports girls who are vulnerable (for whatever reason) based on the conviction of their great value and worth.  I added how I really enjoy spending time with them and that they're very special.  'Come to think of it,' I said, 'you are also really special and very precious too'.  I really meant it.  I think I also told her that!  Once home, she invited me in briefly, as she'd asked me to take a copy of her CV, just in case I hear of anything that could suit her.  And it's all settled, I'll see her again on Sunday.  I have to - she's borrowed my bible!

Project Hope

Rooftop Hope

Over the last few weeks I've started looking photographically and visually at the theme of Hope in my community and surroundings. The approach is twofold. Firstly I want to capture sources and places of hope that already exist, especially if perhaps they aren't always recognised as such. The second aim is to actively instigate and generate hope. I realise this second objective is quite a tall (and potentially arrogant!) order to set, but I really believe in it. 

Hope in a truck

So far the approach has been a literal one. I'm seeking to quite literally put the word HOPE into the mix around the place. So I'm setting off armed with a set of wooden letters that someone kindly carved for me for this exact purpose and I'm placing them around Bulawayo and photographing them in situ. There's something about actually seeing places in Bulawayo physically alongside, or through, the letters of the word HOPE that is exciting and encouraging. And while the idea is not necessarily ground-breaking (or especially subtle!) in approach, I'm finding getting on and doing it with fun and boldness to be a positive experience. More importantly of course it's the symbolism of the gesture that is meaningful.

In terms of how to achieve this second objective, the basic moto is the more creative the better! And I'm very much in the opening stages – I know there's plenty more creative ways to demonstrate and capture hope which I want to try out for myself but more importantly see others doing too.

Hope Over Bulawayo

Fabric of Hope

The bigger picture is that this be a truly collaborative endeavour and journey. So I'm getting the ball rolling myself so that it's not just theory I talk of, and I'm sharing with people who also carry and see the vision of a Bulawayo full of Hope. And in time I hope that it will also be something that others, who don't necessarily share that view at the moment,  can also engage and experiment with. And who knows what that may look like!

Add caption

These are some of the first images in the series that I have shot for the project.

I've got an idea...

Am in the opening stages of what I think is going to be an exciting project as well as quite an adventure.  Not sure where it will lead, but so far so good, and I suspect there's lots more in store.

It began as a friend told me how he and his girlfriend gave each other homemade presents at Christmas and he and his camera went looking for shapes and structures in London which could be put together into a picture forming the letters of the word HOPE.  The idea caught my imagination.

hope

Pronunciation:/həʊp/

 noun

• a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen
• a person or thing that may help or save someone
• grounds for believing that something good may happen
• archaic a feeling of trust:

verb

• To want something to happen or be the case

Something about going looking for hope, figuratively and literally, carving it out even, and interpreting surroundings through a lens of hope.  Hope is something I often think about, especially in relation to life in Zimbabwe.  Much of my time over the last four years has been about looking for and recognising the stories and seeds of hope in this place.  Even if they are buried or trapped amongst other, less hopeful, situations.   A treasure hunt of sorts, with clues along the way.  

I've reflected on hope as a commodity - an ingredient for getting ideas and plans off the ground.  I've wrestled with it's absence, encountered hopelessness, battled and not always won.  I've watched where hope is either in short supply or somehow seems overdone.  Is hope naive? Sometimes it seems so.  I see different types of hope and hoping.  The stakes vary and I have greater appreciation for a hope which hopes in spite of, rather than in denial of, circumstance.  Quiet hope, with doubt not always a stranger, the paradox of carrying both hope and doubt simultaneously.  Costly? That I've also reflected on.  I see the way that, like a floating object thrown in deep water, hope can climb to the surface, challenging circumstance.  I see the difference it can (and does) make.  

Is hope is a choice, a decision?  We choose to see it, to interpret it within the mix, to look for and call it out even.  Is hoping hard...too hard? What if we sometimes can and sometimes just cannot muster it? How does it work and how and where is it generated.  How do you  recover from hopelessness and get your hope back?  Are some just more hopeful than others? I love such questions, as I think they are so real and honest and really matter.  
One way or another, I've come to have a lot of time for Hope: Small word, Big potential.  

I'm looking to turn some of these ideas and experiences into a photographic project of my own.   The medium of photography seems a good fit, considering it's all about ways of seeing and how and what you see.  Capturing hope in the everyday.   Actually, once I started chatting a bit about the idea with others I didn't want it to be just me on my own, so I've made a start towards turning it into a wider effort, open to all.  A challenge of sorts.  Put the HOPE back into Bulawayo...or, maybe just recognise it where it's been there all along, and celebrate it.  Telling the stories of hope.

Rainstorm at Precious Life

Watching cartoons

Everyone loves a bit of Tom & Jerry

With thanks to our sponsor!

These pictures were sent to Toshiba today, forwarded to their PR department, together with a little story of how one of their laptops is being used for the women and children at Precious Life to watch cartoons during one of my weekly visits to do activities together.  I explained how these small things are part of a bigger picture, one of positive changes in peoples lives and of social transformation through empowerment and practical support and care.  Stories of hope, laughter and fun, from under a leaking roof in the middle of a thunderstorm, on a remote farm with no electricity.  It's such a privilege to be part of it.

Collecting the drips