Witness

Witness was a four year old girl who was a pupil at the Ruhanga Community Nursery & Primary School. Volunteer teachers who spent time with her described her as quiet and attentive, a good student who wanted to learn. She was sadly killed in a car accident on Tuesday 13th September as she crossed a busy road near her school. There was torrential rain at the time, and I assume that the driver either couldn't see her or stop in time.

This photo is Witness just a few hours before she died. In a playground of over 200 children for some reason I chose to photograph her and her friends. I found her to be a popular girl, and her classmates surrounded her for pictures and were obviously very fond of her.

I printed and framed these pictures and visited Witness's family today where I met her mother and twin brother, both of whom had been at the scene when the accident happened. Their home was simple but beautiful, furnished with throws of colourful patterns and smiling photographs of weddings and birthdays proudly displayed on their living room wall.

Of course, her mother was grief-stricken, but there was a powerful dignity in her even in mourning which was moving to be around. I found myself saying that I had come to offer these photos because they belonged to her rather than me. In a strange way I felt like I was returning her daughter's photos rather than offering them to her for the first time. I can't really explain why though.

Tragically, this is the 8th child that has died on this stretch of road, and the director of the charity Let Them Help Themselves has written an open letter to the Minister of Works in Uganda to introduce traffic calming measures which would hopefully prevent such accidents in the future.

Small gestures like offering a bereaved mother another chance to see her daughter one last time as she truly was, happy and healthy, means something to me.

You might get an impression from these two posts that it is a dark time here, yet probably the reverse is true. I will write about happier moments next time, but for now Witness, rest in peace.