Mancala

During my time in Uganda, one of my jobs was to go around to different schools in the Gulu district and photograph buildings that Invisible Children was working on renovating. I loved this job, as it gave me a rare look into the life and educational system there. An IC engineer and I would hop on a motorcycle and drive somewhere between 10-50 kilometers to the schools. At many of these schools, teachers live on, or near school grounds. Invisible Children was involved in renovating these as well, so we would walk around capture images of the staff housing, too.

I took this photo on one of my journeys to a school, and every time I look at it, I am reminded of what a beautiful, slow-paced and resourceful culture I was living in. These children sat in the dirt while I was taking photographs, playing mancala out of sticks, rocks and holes they dug in the ground. They were completely content, singing songs and laughing at each other.

Let me know what kind of feeling this photo gives you: