rest – Mimo Khair Creative

For ‘les enfants de la rue’, the children of the street in Kinshasa, a bit of ground in an enclosed secure place can make a world of difference where their safety is concerned. These children roam the streets by night in search of food, opportunity and means and ways. During the day, a center like this one (Cajed), is a place for them to be with people who care for a few hours. The can, eat, have lessons, play and most importantly rest. These 2 children were fast asleep during the whole of my visit and despite other children playing and running and jumping all around them.

I am quite behind in these Congo posts for April, because it gets more and more difficult each day to go relive this experience through the thousands of photos captured there. Each photograph forces me to relive the moments with all the emotions that accompanied it.

Day Forty Six, March 9, 2011

There are days when I catch myself running at a pace that is way too fast, faster than I can handle; too many projects, too many commitments, too many intentions than I am able to realize, and I think I wish I could take timeout! I feel like just pressing a ‘pause’ button on everything like in those movies where everyone in the street just freezes, just long enough for me to put my feet up with cup of tea and a book.

There is no one better at teaching us timeout than the Chinese. They can just drop everything and take timeout, in the street, on a bike, on a train, on a pavement… wherever they are, they can just stop!

The photo below if from yesterday of a man who was resting on his bike full of bottles in the middle of the wide street, just because it was what he needed right then. Much to learn!