(2019 series) Fine art print on 1.5” gallery wrap canvas, black border edges.

Josephine’s story:

The moment we drove up, and Josephine saw me through the car window was one of the most disturbing and humbling experiences of my life. I quickly learned that in spite of the large presence of expats living in the metropolis in which our organization was based, I was the first white person many of the residents of Nkayi, a small rural village in central Congo, had seen. It made me smile when the children waved and pointed with fascination, several calling me Chinese. But when I saw Josephine’s reaction, it meant something far different.

My gut reaction upon seeing her was confirmed later with our team: her intense, almost hysteric excitement to see me, a white person, indicated in her mind that help had finally come. How can this be, that the very skin of a stranger could trigger such a reaction?

I continue to process all of the implications of this moment: the burden of privilege, the weight of responsibility, the humility and opportunity I have because of something I have no control over. How do I reconcile an experience like that against my daily impulse to make my African colleagues more and any image of white saviorism less? I continue processing while praying…

“For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.”

Psalm 9:18