Global Press Journal Connections: The World in Photos

Photojournalism

Connected

Global Press Journal reporters carry their cameras as they work and live. The moments they capture highlight human connection across the globe.

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Makiso, DRC

Benito Awazi welds windows at his workshop in Makiso, a district in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo. Awazi says that when electricity is available, he is able to make four doors and four windows per day. He sells each door for 486,000 Congolese francs ($300), and windows are 162,000 to 242,000 francs ($100 to $150). To avoid having his work disrupted by power outages, Awazi buys prepaid electricity from SNEL, a national utility, for 32,400 francs ($20) per day.

Photo by Francine Ishay Mulumba

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Cobbler Iyanaar Uthayakumar, 42, repairs a shoe while sitting next to a bus terminal in Jaffna, a city in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. Uthayakumar, who has worked as a cobbler for 10 years, earns about 1,200 Sri Lankan rupees ($7) per day to support himself, his wife and three children.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Nansana Kabumbi, Wakiso District, Uganda

Juma Ibanda offers rides on the back of his camel, Alibaba, to customers Niwagaba Spencer (left) and Agaba Davis, in Nansana, a town in Uganda’s Wakiso district. Ibanda and a colleague own four trained camels that they take around town to give short rides to customers, making about 70,000 Ugandan shillings ($18) per camel per day.

Photo by Edna Namara

Mannar, Sri Lanka

Velan Rajenthiran repairs slippers on the roadside in Mannar, a town in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. Rajenthiran, who started this business two years ago, fixes torn footwear, leather bags and umbrellas.

Photo by Vetrichelvi Chandrakala

Mexico City, Mexico

Ariel Toledo, 19, disassembles a used mattress on the job at Colchomex, a mattress repair and manufacturing workshop in Mexico City’s Portales Sur neighborhood. Each day, the 50-year-old workshop repairs 15 to 20 used mattresses.

Photo by Mayela Sánchez

Harare, Zimbabwe

Kudakwashe Chidzonga strings beads to sell at his makeshift stand in Harare, Zimbabwe. Chidzonga makes custom jewelry for clients who want something unique or an item with a personal message or name.

Photo by Linda Mujuru

Thirunelvely, Jaffna District, Sri Lanka

Every day for the past 35 years, Thangarasa Lingarasa (right), Thampu Thevarasa (center) and Rasaiah Pathmanathan (left) have gotten together to roll tobacco in Thirunelvely, a village in Sri Lanka’s Jaffna district. They make about 2,200 cigars per week, earning 1.80 Sri Lankan rupees (a little more than 1 U.S. cent) per cigar, so each man earns about 4,000 rupees (about $25) per week.

Photo by Poongulaly Balagobalan

Kathmandu, Nepal

Ram Bahadur Shrestha (right), 53, rides between New Road and Thamel in Kathmandu, Nepal, seeking passengers for his rickshaw. Shrestha, who has been a rickshaw driver for 22 years, makes about 1,000 to 1,500 Nepalese rupees ($9 to $13) per day.

Photo by Shilu Manandhar

Mannar, Sri Lanka

Sivakumar Sarusan, 18, carries heated tar to repair Sornapury-Adampan road, in Sri Lanka’s Mannar district. At 6 a.m., Sarusan and the road repair team begin by heating the barrels of tar. They then fill in damaged parts of the road with crushed limestone, over which they pour the tar and sand.

Photo by Vetrichelvi Chandrakala

Goma, North Kivu, DRC

During school vacations, Nathalie Bahati, 10, learns sewing and tailoring from her mother, Francine Bushoke, a well-known seamstress in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Nathalie, who has been sewing for two years, makes some of her own clothes and also sells garments at her mother’s workshop at the front of their home.

Photo by Nadia Kanyere Karasisi

Komanda, Ituri Province, DRC

In Komanda village in Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeastern Ituri province, Georgette Mwasi, 42, repairs a jerrican using a heated metal tool and recycled plastics. Jerricans, which are important in the area for transporting and storing water, cost more than 5,000 Congolese francs ($3.10) each, while Mwasi charges only 300 francs (19 cents) to repair a broken one.

Photo by Pascaline Kavuo Mwasi Saambili

Kampala, Uganda

Joanita Sulayiman (front left) and other local women wash discarded polyethylene bags in a drainage ditch in Uganda’s Kampala district. The women sell the washed bags to local manufacturers for recycling.

Photo by Nakisanze Segawa

Harare, Zimbabwe

Bullet Kaitano cuts away excess paper as he binds a photocopied school textbook to sell on the street in Harare, Zimbabwe. Kaitano, who buys the original books from graduates, says that despite the illegality of copying textbooks to sell, his photocopied volumes are popular with schoolchildren who cannot afford to purchase new ones.

Photo by Linda Mujuru

Chabahil, Nepal

Mamata Khushbadia makes “silauto,” or traditional grinding utensils, on the streets of Chabahil, a town in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. Silauto, which are made of stone, are used to grind spices and to make tomato pickles. It can take up to three days for Khushbadia to make one silauto, depending on its size.

Photo by Shilu Manandhar

Kyanja, Uganda

In Kyanja, a suburb of Kampala, Uganda, Simon Kintu, 16, swings William Kato, 9, as he carries James Milimo, 15, on his shoulders in an acrobatic act performed for audience donations. The trio, who say they earn an average 30,000 to 60,000 Ugandan shillings ($7.85 to $15.70) per day, began performing publicly in 2015, after they perfected their acrobatic skills and developed their stunts.

Photo by Apophia Agiresaasi

Kathmandu, Nepal

At Swayambhunath, a Buddhist religious complex in Kathmandu, Nepal, a video is shot of a traditional Tamang Selo dance and a song called “When I See My Love” (“Maya Lai Dekhe”). The Tamang people practice Buddhism, and many of their songs are influenced by Buddhist hymns.

Photo by Kalpana Khanal

Kampala, Uganda

Moses Sekisaka cleans a taxi at a car wash in Mulago, a suburb of Kampala, Uganda. Sekisaka, who has been washing cars for four years, makes 10,000 to 20,000 Ugandan shillings ($2.70 to $5.40) per vehicle, depending on the size.

Photo by Apophia Agiresaasi

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sandra Urquiza works with other members of The Dawn of the Recyclers (El Amanecer de los Cartoneros), a cooperative that sorts and sells recyclables at Parque Patricios Green Center (Centro Verde de Parque Patricios) in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. This cooperative is one of 12 working in the city to collect and recycle raw materials.

Photo by Lucila Pellettieri

Nyundo, Rwanda

Francois Samvura (right) and Pasteur Nsabumuremyi cut lumber for customers in the Nyundo sector of Rwanda’s Rubavu district. They camp near the trees and usually cut two or three per day.

Photo by Janviere Uwimana

Kampala, Uganda

Eva Tuhilirwe collects used plastic bottles at the Kalerwe Market in Kampala, Uganda’s capital. Tuhilirwe, a single mother of two, sells about 40 to 60 kilograms (88 to 132 pounds) per week to plastic-bottle manufacturers for recycling.

Photo by Nakisanze Segawa

Mexico City, Mexico

Every day, Daniel Canul, 22, spends five or six hours juggling for tips from the passing vehicles at a traffic stop in central Mexico City. Canul, who has been juggling for the past five years, earns about 300 Mexican pesos ($15.32) per day from this self-taught talent.

Photo by Mar García

Mangiva, DRC

Alpha Mumbere, 20, cuts felled trees into lumber in the village of Mangiva in the Basili chiefdom of Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Mumbere saved money from his job as a farmer to purchase logging equipment. His earnings as a logger helped him build a home, and he has employed other young people in the area.

Photo by Pascaline Kavuo Mwasi Saambili

Mexico City, Mexico

Javier Rodríguez, 29, carries supplies to clean tombstones at the San Nicolás Tolentino Civil Pantheon, a cemetery on the east side of Mexico City. Rodríguez, who also makes marble tombstones for the pantheon, sweeps and cleans tombstones for tips, at the request of the friends and families of the deceased.

Photo by Mayela Sánchez

Lusaka, Zambia

At the main dump site of Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, in the neighborhood of Chunga, Enala Lungu collects plastic bottles to sell to recyclers at 1.5 Zambian kwacha (around 15 cents) per kilogram (2.2 pounds). Lungu has been scavenging for 11 years, she says. Although her health is at risk, she feels the job is getting better, because local authorities are now providing gloves and plastic boots to all scavengers.

Photo by Prudence Phiri