FloJa calendar 2023
The FloJa desk calendar 2023 can be ordered again!
Also this year with photos of the FloJa children made by Ed Peeters. All proceeds benefit the FloJa project in Malawi.
You can order the calendar via the order form of the FloJa foundation.
Cheers,
Mateyo's transformation
On April 23, 2022, Malawian boy Mateyo Kumwenda stood in front of my camera. During the photoshoot, my wife curiously asked about the story behind his eye. Mateyo told her that he had lost his eye while playing, when a stone accidentally hit his eye.
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The story begins two years earlier, when my wife and I met Axel, a specialist in artificial eyes. He told me about his work in the artificial eye laboratory in The Hague, where he makes lifelike eyes. When Axel took the artificial eye out of his bag, we were astonished. It was so lifelike that it was almost unbelievable."
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When my wife first met Mateyo, she made the connection to the artificial eye that Axel had given her. Would this eye fit Mateyo? After consulting with Jan, a retired surgeon who visits us annually and had previously placed an artificial eye in Malawi, we decided to take action.
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First, my wife spoke to Mateyo and his parents to see if they were open to this special proposal. Despite the implausibility, they agreed. I took photos of Mateyo's face and the feature of the missing eye, which I sent to Axel in the Netherlands. Now it was a waiting game.
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On November 26, 2022, Jan arrived in Chitimba with the artificial eye, where Mateyo and his parents were waiting anxiously. After a brief introduction, the eye was quickly placed by Jan's skilled hands. A beautiful metamorphosis took place before our eyes. The artificial eye fit perfectly, and Mateyo radiated self-confidence.
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It was special how all this came about from a distance. The artificial eye, made in Utrecht based on a few photographs, was brought to Malawi without Axel ever having seen Mateyo. Yet the eye fit perfectly, and it not only changed the face of Mateyo, who lives in Chihanga, but also had a deep meaning for the people in Chitimba, where the process took place.
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Jan and Axel, thank you for this wonderful gesture, on behalf of Mateyo, his parents, the community of Chihanga and us.
Cheers,
Photoshoot FloJa Foundation 2022
Thursday, November 24, I traveled to the village of Ngara in the north of Malawi where the Floja Foundation is located. Firstly for a good cup of coffee with Andre the Dutch project leader, but then I had to get started with taking photos. After an hour of pictures I had enough photos for the Floja calendar for the year 2023.
For more than 14 years, FloJa Malawi, a safe base, has been providing nutrition and education to 90 Malawian children. Over the past 14 years, about 500 children have been given a solid foundation on which to build their future.
For more information about the Floja Foundation click on the following link https://www.flojamalawi.nl
Cheers,
On the blog of Ed Peeters Photography you will discover everything about portraits, landscape and nature photography