Emma in a jackfruit tree

I'm going through the ole archive to put together an edit of my various exploits in Africa and I just love this one.

Mini DIG story:

This is Emma, one of my favorite kids from the orphanage where DIG has a project just outside of Jinga, Uganda. He stuck out in my memory the first time we went there and I was super pleased to see he was the same semi-spastic, loving boy I remembered. He danced half the day we went visited back in 2009 and he was first up the jackfruit tree this time, when we headed into the family's land. He's one of quite a few kids (from infants to late high schoolers) living with Paul and Rose at their home in a tiny town called Bwala. And I gotta say, I was blown away by the growth of these kiddos. I had conversations (that were probably out of my league) with a couple of the older kids (Collin and Maureen) that showed how much they had learned about growing food and creating a sustainable system for their future, and now doubt that interest and knowledge is spreading around to everybody they live with too.

I guess I love this shot because it seems to sum up the hope I associate with all those kids. Emma's precocious grin says a lot to me about the future ahead of him.