Water in the 21st Century

In his photographer’s statement, which accompanies his black and white prints where 100 percent of the proceeds go to water projects led by NGOs in Africa, he writes,

“I also saw a practical reason to be involved in West Africa. Given the political times, I concluded that we need to be seen in the non-Christian world as truly carrying about these West African countries—Muslim countries.”

Garcetti also emphasized that it was due to the strength of the women in the villages that these water projects in West Africa were able to succeed. Most of the men have left to find work.

Garcetti explains: I was with a Peace Corps volunteer going into a village and I was looking for this woman in this little house. This is a huge village with 4,000 people. Sure enough, everyone knew her. I interviewed her and I said, “Tell me about your micro credit loaning. What is it?”

She said, “We sell goats.”

I said, “Oh, how long have you been doing it?”

“About six years.”

I said, “Oh, all right. Has it been successful?”

“Yeah, forty-one loans we’ve been doing.”

And I said, “How many animals are you selling?”

“Almost 6,000.”

“6,000! That’s a lot of money!”

She said, “Yes.”

“What do you do with all that money?”

“We built a school because in our community, when kids go to school, they have to wear the uniforms but families can’t afford the uniforms. We provide the uniforms. We keep money for emergencies. And we buy grains for when we run out of our food.”

That’s what it’s all about. I also said, “When you come back from selling, does your husband see that you sold something? Doesn’t he say, ‘Hey honey, can I get a beer tonight?’ And she said, ‘Yes, exactly. We give them a coin for one beer.’”

Photographs of clean water projects and the joy that comes with them fill the book, with the idea that with these hopeful images, Western countries and their citizens will step up.

“This is a photograph, for me, of hope and of optimism,” Garcetti says. “The hands you see are the hands of the chief of this village. You can see how incredibly dry they are. But they’re clean. They’re manicured and they’re taken care of. But the little feet are his grandson’s. An image about his hope and his hope for his grandson. And each of us can help.”