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I am selling files from a photo series from the Subsaharan region of Africa. Originally my intention was never to sell my photos. I would have rather printed a few and put them in my room... which I still intend to do. However, when I was dropping off medical donations to a Mauritanian hospital I had an interesting conversation with Mr. Moctar Maghlah, the administrative director of SOS Medecins Mauritanie.
I had already heard and seen the conflict between Morocco and Mauritania: territory disputes, active minefields, and the ongoing Western Sahara Conflict. I could see the extreme poverty present in Mauritania; kids don't seem to be in school and families are forced to live in unsafe environments. Healthcare access and quality are some of the most severe in the world. All proceeds from the photo sales will go to buying essential medicine for SOS Medecins Mauritanie who have pledged to use all donations for anyone in need.
I watched my dad and uncle go off to Africa to rally race in the Budapest-Bamako a few times when I was young, and ever since then I have been confident that I too will go someday. I've always begged to go but my dad always deemed it too dangerous and a distraction from school. After managing to convince both my school and parents that the main purpose of my partake was for education and learning, I wondered how else I could make this trip more meaningful. I figured doing photography would help make it more purposeful and allow me to document in a way that speaks to me. It wasn't until I was actually there that I saw this issue and thought I could make an impact, large or small. And that's how this project began.
The Budapest-Bamako or Great African Run is a charity car race in Africa and the largest amateur rally in the world. It is a low-budget version of the Dakar Rally and traditionally goes from Budapest, Hungary to Bamako, Mali through the Sahara. This year, the route ended in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
