name your dream

Living, dreaming, seeing possibilities and doing what we can to make a difference to other people's lives using the talents we each uniquely have.

I can't think of anything that inspires me more really.

This photographer has travelled and seen and now has a dream which could become a reality thanks to a competition being run by www.nameyourdreamassignment.com

This is what he says -

Childhood Interrupted - Jason Florio

To bring to light the extreme hardships of the estimated 100,000 children that live on and under the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Many children are victims of child trafficking and family abuse and were forced to escape to the street.

Three years ago I was photographing in Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia and I met a young boy called Bruke who had runaway from a small village because of an alcoholic and physically abusive father and a step mother that did not want him. Bruke, when I found him was living with his friend Oromo in a small concrete hole that was 3 x 4 x 5 ft in size that was in the median of a very busy road. He was surviving, like so many of the street children there off left over plate scraps from restaurants. Through an outreach center that tries to help the estimated 100,000 plus street children that live in the Mercato market area of Addis I was also able to talk to many other children like Bruke who had escaped not just abusive families but were victims of child trafficking and prostitution. My dream assignment would be to return to Addis and make a detailed photo essay with audio interviews with the children that would bring to light the horrors of child trafficking and the extreme dangers that these young children face everyday on the streets. The ultimate dream would be to use part of the money to find Bruke and help him establish a life off the streets. If I cannot find him then I will donate part of the money to the Forum on Street Children, an NGO that helps rescue children from the hardships life on the streets of the Mercato area.

Please take a minute to vote for this and help me create awareness about these young children.

Deadline for voting is April 3rd. Thank you for taking the time.

http://www.nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/florio/childhood-interrupted/

The stories of these children do need to be told, please check by and if you think it's important please vote...

There is an image of Bruke on HellyJ's website...thanks for letting me know about this :)