Statement
The children who attend the Mekele Blind School in the Northern Tigray region of Ethiopia know that their way of greeting a new guest can be alarming, yet they don't hold back. Getting to know someone without having sight to pick up visual communication cues is done via the exploration of touch, nibbles, licks and acute listening. These children place great trust in others to help them navigate physical and emotional obstacles but once they are comfortable with their surroundings, they run together, read each other stories, ponder life's complexities and have petty arguments just like any other growing child. However, one thing seems to make them stand apart from sighted children: they often have a poetic way of touching the hearts of others with their carefully chosen words. I sometimes wonder if having sight can distract us from some of our own deeper insights. As I was getting ready to leave the school, one young man approached me and said, "I leave it up to you to teach the sighted world the beauty of surrender and touch." It is my hope that this series of images will do just that.
