Sacre Coeur Pediatric Center

Located in Dubreka in Guinea, Africa, Sacre Coeur Pediatric Center is a medical clinic serving marginalized children of the surrounding communities. The Center has gained trust of the local community over many years of serving them. Some families travel very long distances in order to obtain care. My role is their visual storyteller, traveling there on multiple trips each year and utilizing photography, film, and drones. Partnering with a dedicated medical team, I documented a multi-day humanitarian mission delivering critical care to local underserved communities. My role was to visually capture both the medical impact and the human interest stories unfolding on the ground.

Documenting medical care in Guinea presents unique challenges in my role - from traveling with limited equipment, the rapidly changing clinical environments, to limited lighting, and inconsistent electric power.  From a visual storytelling perspective, I work around these logistical challenges successfully.

I always arrive with a "story-first" mindset, with an eye toward the end goal. Further, I work unobtrusively during sensitive patient moments, and my nimble gear setup supports this. I've built trust with the medical team there which allows me to anticipate emotional moments while being sensitive to cultural aspects.

My passion for the people of Africa, for storytelling, and for medical missions all combine in this journey. My film and photography provide the organization with visual assets to successfully raise funds, increase mission awareness, and strengthen partner storytelling. Seeing people being positively impacted by Sacre Coeur, and being able to help support their mission touches my heart and the hearts of humanity. All of the sacrifices are SO worth it in the end, because when care travels across oceans and mountains, the human stories deserve to travel the distance.