Trying to prove himself and see past the drop-off that some fear, Nemo swims out. Fearlessly, of course…but not in one swift movement. He looks back several times on his way out into the unknown just to spite his fearful onlookers. Out as far as he planned to go, Nemo turns himself around to look into the eyes of those who want him to come back. They are the only ones in the ocean who have witnessed the shift from where he was to where he is now. Into their...

Armie is one of the young girls living here that I have come to love. I have added a caption to which one she is in my photos. She was brought to the Children's home directly from the hospital…trembling and bandaged. The emotion called fear defined her life for all of the seven years lived. Fear consumed everything she was, but was all she ever knew. Armie was brought to the Children's home directly from a stay in the hospital. Broken from the inside out, a...

I stare at my eyelids with my head tilted back entirely in the backseat of this taxi. Before I decided to shut my eyes, I read the sticker on the door I sit next to: Don't Pay if Seal is Broken. I assume it is referring to the seal of the door because of where it was stuck, and that is the only one visible. Part of it is drooping down farther than it is mean to, and has been flapping against the window for the entire ride. The poor state of the street we are driv...

I gain more of an understanding of this community called Quatro with every new day. The differences are endless and all the newness is beautiful. Countless encounters daily could lead me to my pen and journal or my keyboard and monitor. The basic routine of day is broken for all people when someone passes by on the street. Stares, judgments, murmur: these are of no existence here. Rather, an obvious effort to acknowledge and embrace everyone is made a priority to...

The way we get to church is culturally everything that I hoped for. We step outside the gates of the Children's home onto the streets of the Quatro. About 6 or 7 shops up the road, we take a left. With Maricel on my left arm and Camille on my right, our horizontal train quickly turns vertical as we walk down a narrow path created by the treading of many feet before us. We cross many streams of...I'm not sure what...say hello to several skinny dogs, goats and roos...