Top left to right: Jason Thon, Ben Harrison, Mike Colón, Jeff LaPlante, Luke Edmondson, Melissa Jill, Shane Melenbacker, Andrew Bryant, Jim Hicks
Bottom left to right: Ray Santana, David Burke, Me, our new friend Stephen Machua, and David Edmondson
Not pictured, but equally as awesome as everyone in this picture: Laura Parker, Michelle Walker, Kennedy and JP Pierce

Shots from the field:

Shane working the camera

Father and son

Some of the guys attempting to spell “THIRST”

Get ready for some super-cuteness in this post. There’s a lot of it!

Our team was able to visit a second orphanage in Tanzania. This one was in a very poor village and there were a lot more kids there. I guess a lot of the orphans in Tanzania actually have parents; their parents are just unable to care for them. This particular orphanage didn’t have a lot of overnight accommodations so the kids mainly came there during the day to have their needs cared for and then went to be with their parents at night.

This orphanage experience was completely overwhelming. As soon as we got out of the bus we had kids running up to us, throwing their arms around us like we were long-lost relatives and they didn’t stop loving on us from that point on until we had to tear ourselves away and load back into the vehicles. We were able to give the kids some little treats like hard candy, stickers and pens. Here’s Shane handing out some candy. It was total chaos:

The kids absolutely loved seeing themselves on the back of our cameras:

So I spent most of my time shooting photos of them and then showing them their cuteness.

The orphanage had some resident goats:

I loved this little guy’s T-shirt:

Many of the young girls were caring for infants:

I snagged a few shots of Mike Colon giving out some free photo lessons:

This little cutie wanted to be held and she snuggled me until my arms gave out:

And this sweet girl held my hand as we walked around the nearby village (thanks to David Edmonson for these shots!):

While we were there two filters were delivered to the orphanage so it’s good to know that the health of these children will be greatly improved thanks to Thirst Relief!

yes … you read that right … I shot about 18 rolls of 120/220 film when I was in Tanzania. I shot them with my Mamiya 645 medium format camera, which I am falling in LOVE with! Some of you may be wondering why I would shoot film in Africa (because of the somewhat inconvenient nature) … and it really just boils down to the fact that I love the intentionality and look of film. With our psychosomatic image laden, instant gratification culture, I have to admit that film was a nice release. It forces the photographer to slow down and become more intentional with each exposure (as each exposure translates to $). I’m not saying that film is better than digital … just that inherent in its nature it is different .. it renders color uniquely, skin tones uniquely, and has a somewhat softer feel. All in all I would have to say that I loved shooting film again … and will definitely be doing a lot more in the future! It was so funny to me how giddy I got with the whole process of shipping out the rolls and waiting in anticipation to see the shots!

The first image below (which I re-posted from a previous post) shows you the mamiya (the one on the left). I got all the film processed at Richard Photo Lab and let me tell you … they are AMAZING!! The images came back as you see them below … basically perfect … which is not something I can say about most labs! Anyways, below you will see a small selection of some of these images … I can’t show all the images right now for magazine publishing rights but I hope you enjoy the ones I can show! More to come soon!!!

it was incredibly touching to see how all these kids wanted was love, its amazing how we take ‘being loved’ for granted … shot courtesy of the amazing Phil Glickman!

here are some of the water filters (aka easter island statues) shot on a Holga camera … which is basically a plastic camera that shoots medium format

more holga-lisciousness

on to the mamiya 645 … don’t you just love the look of film!?!

these tikes as well as all the ones below will be a lot healthier thanks to the long term clean water solution they received thanks to the efforts of Thirst Relief International

the goats at the orphanage where we installed the filter

look closely

Besides being able to work at the workshop where Thirst Relief bio-sand filters are made, we also had the chance to be a part of the delivery of a filter to a Tanzanian home. I really enjoyed this because it gave us the opportunity to see the inside of a Tanzanian home and to meet even more people who will benefit from the work that Thirst Relief is doing.

This was the home where we delivered a filter:

From what I saw, it was a fairly nice home. Here’s a photo of a home that was more typical of what we encountered in the poor villages:

The owner of the home where we delivered the filter is an amazing artist. We were just in awe of these intricate wood carvings he created that stood in his front room:

We set up the filter in the back hallway of the home. It was a very tight space so Ben Harrison helped while one of the Tanzanians from the workshop who typically does deliveries led the way:

Once the filter is set up they time how long it takes to fill up a liter water bottle in order to see if it is functioning correctly:

The man on the left is the artist and owner of the home. He seemed very happy to be the owner of the new filter:

The artist shares his home with his 8 year old daughter and his brother who all now benefit from access to clean drinking water:

What a cool thing to witness.

I hope you enjoy – Jason

DUBAI

TANZANIA

Mixing the cement before being poured into the mold

Rocks that will be used as part of the filtering process inside the filter

Removing the filters after they’re done drying up in the molds

Jim Hicks explaining to the group how the bio-sand filter works

And now some images and video from the first orphanage we visited

Rockin’ out my shades

Short clip taken from my iPhone

Where the kids sleep. I love me some bunk beds!

David Edmonson showing the kids how to liquify Mike Colón’s face

After we wrapped up the model shoot in Tanzania, our team had a chance to work one afternoon at the workshop where the bio-sand filters are constructed on a daily basis. If you haven’t already read the post I did a few days ago about how these things work, definitely check it out here. The filters are amazingly simple in construction but I have a great respect for the Tanzanians who work to construct them daily. It’s HARD work and you are going to get dirty.

Here’s a shot of some of the guys who work day in and day out at the workshop:

Our team each took different stations and jumped right in. Here’s Jason Thon and Ben Harrison preparing the cement molds:

I guess Ben worked up an appetite:

Here are a few shots of Phillip Glickman preparing the molds. Check out the bicep in that top right shot!

Phillip and Jeff LaPlante demonstrating some team work:

Here are some of the Tanzanian workers sifting the gravel that goes in the bottom of the filter. It has to be just the right size.

The fine sand that fills up the majority of the filter has to be well cleaned before it can be used. Luke Edmonson, Laura Parker and Shane Melenbacker all got in on the sand-cleaning action:

Mike Colon worked on cutting out the diffuser plates:

Check out this form:

And Jason apparently cloned himself so as to work at this station too, hammering out the holes for the diffusers:

Andrew Bryant and David Burke worked together to cut and assemble the PVC piping:

The assembly requires some pretty potent-smelling glue and these two ended up getting a bit loopy:

I decided to relieve them and took over for a bit (thanks to David Edmonson for this shot!):

With this process, I believe they can produce around 8 filters per day. Here they are all finished and ready for delivery!

What a cool experience to be able to get our hands dirty and find out first-hand what it takes to make these amazing life-saving devices!

After we stopped by the orphanage the first morning in Tanzania, we took some of the cute kids along with us to participate in the model shoot that occupied the rest of our day. That day and the next were spent in the district of Bagamoyo where we did a fashion shoot for an upcoming issue of Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine. Two models from South Africa were flown up and 6 gowns were designed specifically for use in the shoot by top designers Ines Di Santo, Amy Michelson, Adele Wechsler, Angel Sanchez and Jenny Packham. The models, gowns and location were all incredible and the 15 of us were all in photographer heaven shooting away with our long lenses so we could all “get the shot.” I wish I could share some of the results from the model shoot with you, but I won’t be able to blog any of those images until after the magazine comes out in January.

But during those two days I also grabbed a couple shots around Bagamoyo that caught my eye. Bagamoyo is a historic seaport in eastern Tanzania with a rich history. The town was formerly a slave-trading depot as well as the first capital of the German East Africa Company in the early 19th century.

These shots are just random ones that caught my eye but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless!

The first morning we were in Tanzania we visited one of two orphanages that we saw on our trip. The kids were unbelievably adorable and even dressed up and sang for us!

Before I get too far though, I want to introduce you to Todd and Ann, a sweet couple who have been working to bring clean water to Tanzanians for over five years. These two used to make six figures each in Michigan until they felt called to pack up and move to Tanzania. They are pretty remarkable and I felt so blessed to get to know them during the week we spent there. Todd and Ann were our contacts in Africa and did a ton of work to set things up for us so that all the logistics of our stay went smoothly.

Todd and Ann oversee a workshop where hundreds of bio-sand filters — like these two that bring clean water to the orphanage we visited — are made every year.

We learned a lot about these filters while we were there and even got a chance to help make them ourselves one day! Each filter costs $80 to make and brings clean drinking water to an average of 15 people. They are very simple in structure and consist of a concrete mold that houses a PVC pipe that brings the water from the bottom of the filter up to the spout you see sticking out over the buckets. When water is poured into the top of the filter it goes through a number of layers before reaching the piping at the bottom. The first is a diffuser plate with holes in it that filter out any large chunks. Next comes a large layer of fine sand. The top few centimeters of the sand trap the bulk of micro-organisms, which accumulate and develop into a highly active food chain, called a bio-layer. The bio-layer traps and feeds on the micro-organisms and contaminants in the water. Further filtration occurs in the lower layers of sand and gravel before the filtered water, that has been tested to be 99% bacteria-free, comes out the pipe. Wa-laa! No breakable parts and no filters that need to be changed. Genius:

Here’s a few photos I took during our brief time at the orphanage:

All of the Africans we met were big fans of our President:

Phillip Glickman let this little guy try on his glasses and the kids got a kick out of it:

The kids all loved to have their pictures taken and then instantly wanted to see what they looked like. Score one for digital technology!

Todd loving on some of the kids:

So cute:

Some of the guys from our team kicked around a soccer ball with some of the boys. Check out Ben Harrison’s awesome form. It’s definitely not easy to do this with camera in tow:

I love this shot of a gorgeous little girl admiring her polaroid:

A cute shot of some of the kids during their performance:

And one final shot of “Happy” the little girl that David talked about a few posts back:

It was so exciting to meet these kids and hear about tangible examples of how clean drinking water has changed lives and brought hope!