July 18, 2010 by heber vega

Working for the Family Center in Rapareen – Iraq

Beside being a photographer, I am also a humanitarian aid worker. I’m currently working on a wide variety of developmental programs. The last couple weeks I’ve been photographing our work through a Family Center, located in northern Iraq. In that Center we provide different social programs to the local community. As you probably have read it before, I’ve committed my life to assisting the Iraqis in the reconstruction of their country.

© Heber Vega

© Heber Vega | www.hebervega.com/help-4

Our English classes at the Center seem to be very popular, with 6 of them going on right now! There are 138 students currently enrolled in the two-month program. Students receive two hours of instruction a week and then have listening, reading, and writing activities to do at home.

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

One of our most popular classes still continues, with Henry (kak Bakhtyar) in charge. He teaches mostly women and a few teens the art of making beautiful things for the home.

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

We have two classes going on in our computer lab, and they’re full with 30 students. Most of the students don’t have a computer in their home, so this is the only practice that they get. Hardy teaches them about basic Windows applications, Microsoft Office, and even PhotoShop, which the students LOVE!

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

Dra. Miriam and her assistant, Shno are busy seeing patients 5 days a week at our Center in Rapareen. Each day, they have 5 30-minute appointments where they do a variety of treatments, ranging from teeth cleanings, fillings, and pulling teeth, and ALWAYS education on dental hygiene, as some patients who come in have never brushed their teeth! The patients are either students in one of our other programs, or the family members of a student in our program. These two are creating HEALTHY SMILES in the town of Rapareen!

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

Peri is also another new, and very popular, teacher at the Center. She is our sewing teacher (a Kurd), and in addition to teaching the ever-popular beginning class, she has used her skills as a professional tailor to add a class in making tailored clothing for outside of the home. This class has advanced-level skills and includes pattern making and custom-fit tailoring, a very useful skill for the women in Rapareen!

© Heber Vega | Help-4

© Heber Vega | Help-4

You can follow our work at:
www.hebervega.com/help-4

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  • http://www.brianhirschy.com Brian Hirschy

    good stuff man -

  • http://www.jerodfoster.com Jerod Foster

    Great shots! I especially like the dentistry images. Good work Heber!

  • http://www.activeyephoto.com Marco Di Gianvito

    Very good work, both the photos and your projects!

  • http://www.fotosolidaria.cl/ Álvaro

    Maybe is a silly comment, but here I go. I’m not habituated to find images from Iraq with these tones… Just by choosing a different white balance you show warmer images than those avalaible in newspapers, for example.

    Regards.

    • http://www.hebervega.com heber vega

      Hi Alvaro. That’s an interesting comment, thank you for bringing it up. It really made me think about this whole issue of the tones on my photographs. I think in these photographs, the reason why those warmed tones are: 1. the walls are made out of mud, so there’s a reddish tone when light bounced on them. 2. The lights. All halogens. 3. My taste. I always try to preserve skin tones, but then I like the photographs to look a little bit warmth… good observation!

  • http://www.hebervega.com heber vega

    Thanks Guys for all the comments!

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  • Johan Bengtsson

    As Alvaros says, it is unusual to find images from Iraq, and other countries with a similar situation, with these tones. I got more touched by your photos than many other photos I’ve seen from Iraq and I think it is dependent from the warm tone. It emphasised the “family feeling” and that people have hope and dreams for the future. Hope to see more of your activities in the development programmes and your photography.

    I like all your photos, but the one that got me the most is the one at the top. The eyes of that boy speaks millions of words.

    Good luck

    • http://www.hebervega.com heber vega

      Thanks John for stopping by. I don’t have anything else to add except to thank you for your kind words. Why? Because I feel that my photography is producing its fruits, my vision is working. Thanks again.