BANFII - logged!

For more than a year now, I had known that I would be getting on a plane and flying to East Africa to shoot Richard & Carolyne's wedding. My trip will take me to Kenya where I would be shooting the traditional Engagement ceremony on July 24th. A couple of days later, I would be flying into Entebbe, Uganda in preparation for the wedding ceremony which is scheduled to take place on July 28th. On July 29th, I will be on my way home to Nigeria.

For a very long time now I've prayed for the opportunity to be able to impact the lives of the less fortunate people of my continent. As a lot of photographers would agree, going to Africa under these circumstances is the ultimate dream...the opportunity to create images that are artistically rich because of the different environment. Some would talk about it with pride and hopefully gain the envy of their peers.

Think about these numbers:

• Orphans in Kenya due to AIDS - 1,100,000
• Orphans in Uganda due to AIDS - 1,100,000
• Orphans in Nigeria due to AIDS - 930,000
• An estimated 350 million to 500 million clinical malaria cases and more than one million malaria deaths occur each year, the vast majority of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 80% of malaria deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa and the large majority of these are in children younger than five years of age.

Worldwide stats for children

• 28 Million children die from easy curable diseases each year
• 17 million children die from malnutrition and starvation each year
• 1/3 of the world population is malnourished
• 20% of the world has no access to safe water at all
• 40% have no sanitation
• 10 million children are involved in the sex industry
• 100 million children are on the streets
• 200 million child labourers
• 1.4 million children under the age of 15 are living with HIV

So, how could I be excited about going Africa to make money or better my career when my folks are dying from Malaria a disease that can be prevented by a little as a $1.00 insecticides or insecticide sprayed mosquito nets?

I've always prayed for the opportunity to be able to go back to Africa and be a difference in the life of a single child. So, I believe that the Lord finally answered my prayers and is allowing me to go back home and do what I've always desired.

Over the years, I've had a lot of my clients ask me "How can I help?" Well, Carolyne & Richard have promised to take me to as many orphanages as I would like to visit. My intention is to take with me as many children's clothing and insect repellant as I can carry. I truly believe in my heart that we can all help. It does not matter where these children are based. I believe we can slowly start to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate.

A few of you know that between the ages of 4 and 9, while my parents were in the U.S. attending school, my siblings and I stayed with one of our uncles in a rather remote area of Nigeria. Even at that tender age, I can still recall how difficult life was. I say this because, despite that we had the resources and family members to depend on, life was never really the same without our parents being around. But there are millions of African children out there without parents that would ever come back home. Try that fact with an impending disease that could take your life!

I believe that together we can change the world! When I was 7 years old, I can recall walking about a mile to get to school. I remember being in a classroom where there were probably 60 other students. I remember the floor being without any carpeting - just your regular red clay. I remember that at 10 years of age, I could hardly read a word from my English text book. I can still recall giving my lunch to a classmate so he could teach me how to read. 38 years later, with the Lord as my rock and shield, with a lot of you that have positively impacted my life, I can truly say that because of the opportunities I've been given and the helping hands along the way, my life has been forever changed for good!

Please come to Africa with me! Please come on this trip with me! You can make donations to world organizations that provide treatments for children in Africa that are orphaned and infected with AIDS. You can walk into a Wal-Mart or one of your favorite grocery stores and purchase a can of Insect Repellant. You can give a dollar. Whatever action you take today, I guarantee you, one child's life could be forever changed because you cared. I can take your items with me. You can send children's clothing, repellants, mosquito nets, whatever you believe the Lord is laid on your heart. Somehow, I will figure out a way to haul everything to Kenya and Uganda. In return, I promise I would post here images of little children smiling because you've touched their lives in an unimaginable way! 

If you care enough to send anything you can ship them to:

Roland Omoresemi

12905 W. 138th Street, Overland Park, KS 66221

Below are links to Organizations where you can personally make a donation:

http://www.childinfo.org/areas/malaria/

http://www.savethechildren.org/programs/health/hiv-aids/global-epidemic.html

http://www.amref.org/index.asp?PageID=41

http://www.abaana.org/resources/statistics.cfm

Kimblee & Tre are getting married on July 14th in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. This would be my first trip to Mississippi and I'm very excited to have been selected to be the photographer at their wedding.

I met Kim & Tre through my friends at House of Diamonds - Gene & Karen! I had shot their wedding sometime in the summer of 2005 and it is amazing how they've now become one of my strongest referral base.

Tre is a tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs and besides his passion for football, Tre and Kim's love for Christ was something that struck me during our first meeting. I can refer to myself as always being on fence where my faith is concerned because I know that I often don't run and walk as I should. But when my clients profess their faith as these two did, it goes a long way in getting me back on track and in acknowledging to whom I owe all that I am.

Their wedding is taking place at Mt. Olive Baptist Church and the reception at the beautiful Hattiesburg Lake Terrace Convention Center.

See their Guestbook images