At Photo Start, we love visitors and recently we were very fortunate to have a veteran Zambian journalist come visit. Nkole Wanseko, a human interest journalist was recently in the country and decided to visit us at the Inua Mimi Rescue Centre photography classes. She had heard about the work Photo Start has been doing with children living in vulnerable areas like Kibra and seen the amazing pictures they had taken. This was all the push she needed to come spend the day with us.

At the centre, the students were very excited to have her and were fascinated by her accent, especially by the fact that she couldn’t understand Swahili, yet she looked like them. This was the perfect opportunity for them to learn a little about Zambia, its people and its location, and they loved it. The Inua Mimi Rescue Centre founder, Pascalia Nduku, fondly referred to as Shosho, also had a moment with Nkole where they had a chat about the centre and how the photography classes are benefiting the children.

As she interacted with the children, Nkole was very impressed at the level of aptitude shown by the younger kids and the collaborative nature of the bigger kids. Her biggest takeaway was that the project is one great example of how every child deserves a bright future and the chance to thrive in school and in life. She wished that this program could be replicated in other African countries so that children can explore their creativity and grow their self-confidence through photography.

Nkole made one promise before she left- to spread the word about the good work that Photo Start is doing, and the impact our program has on the children and the community at large. True to her word, she tweeted about our work here