Introducing my new slideshow: 
"Children of the Incas
- with prince Joachim among Bolivia's Indians"

I started volunteer work for CARE in 1991 - hesitant and skeptical. 
Ten years earlier I had traveled in Africa to look for projects which American Pictures could support, but became very critical of the way Denmark and other countries administer aid.

Aid without racism? 

With my experiences from the American racial scene I saw a tremendous racism in the relationship between donator and recipient. I was so depressed that I totally gave up my enthusiasm for development assistance - one of the reasons American Pictures closed down in Europe and moved to America. I saw no alternative way at the time. 

Therefore I would only promise CARE to look at their projects and only make a slide-show if I could whole- heartedly support them. Well, I ended up being absolutely carried away with their work. The racist relationship I anticipated seemed completely absent - mainly because all work was carried out by natives - not by highly paid white foreigners surrounding themselves in a barbed wire secured affluence and a corrupting negative life style. 

While such tends to increase the psychological gaps in the world - leading to crime and the killing of incentive - I now saw the opposite in CARE: that their native employees - although of urban origin - live with and learn from the peasants. This, they say, helps to decrease their own psychological gap to the peasants thus promoting initiative and mutual feelings of dependency. 

This is a brief and inadequate account of articles I have written in the Danish media about my reasons for working with CARE: "Development aid and racism"  

Working in Bolivia 

In Bolivia I am engaged by CARE to follow the CADENA project over a number of years. CADENA is financed by the Danish government and works to improve the resource base of 4,000 farm families in Chuquisaca through better management of natural resources and rehabilitation of degraded and eroded land. It includes community organization and training in agro forestry and sustainable agriculture, environmental education, rural credit, and construction of irrigation systems and storage facilities. 
 

I made a slide-show about these efforts which I tour with in Danish schools. A Spanish version has been shown in Bolivia and an English version is being made for CARE USA. It has just been updated as I in 1999 returned to Bolivia with CARE Denmark's patron prince Joachim.  and made "Children of the Incas - with prince Joachim among Bolivia¨s Indians."

Here is the text from the show. 

Working in Nepal 

In Nepal I am currently working on a similar show - primarily about women in the Syangja Project. This aims at promoting sustainable watershed management among 7,200 families through construction of drinking water, irrigation and landslide control systems. 

Also I have photographed CARE's work to preserve the rain forest in Thailand and future plans include a show about CARE's work in Vietnam. 

To organize the Bolivia show in Denmark, please contact ARTE: Phone 38-885555, e-mail ARTE
or e-mail CARE DENMARK 

CARE USA

Also see:

"Children of the Incas - with prince Joachim among Bolivia's Indians"

My "fan page" for prince Joachim

Content of the new Bolivia show

Back to my page on CARE

Back to American Pictures 

 This page in Danish

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