SIERRA LEONE:
An estimated 30,000 children fought during Sierra Leone's ten year civil war. They were taken from their villages, often having been forced to partake in the maiming or murder of their own parents; high on drugs they learned to use Kalashnikovs or became sex, cooks and ammunition porters for the soldiers. Not only the child soldiers were affected: for most of the country's children, education came to an end as rebels burnt, looted or set up bases in their schools.
During October 2002, a few months after peace was declared in Sierra Leone, I visited the country and documented the current situation of some of the country's children. They were now re-unifed with their families, back in school or labouring for almost nothing in diamond mines… Their situations varied; the glazed expression of those worst affected did not.

KASHMIR:
The Bibi family lived in Kharn Abbasi village, 50km from the epicentre of the earthquake that shook Kashmir to its foundations on October 8th 2005 and extended across Pakistan, northern India and into Afghanistan and China. They lost their house, their school and their 20 day old daughter.

BURBERRY:
Behind the scenes at a shoot.

BLIND CHOIR:
During August 2003, the choir of the Milton Margai School for the Blind in Freetown, Sierra Leone, toured the UK. The children, aged 8 to 20, had just come through 10 years of civil war: some had been deliberately blinded by rebel soldiers. For most, it was the first time they had left their country. Many experiences were new to them: swimming pools, horses, underground travel, the cold… and as I spent time with these children, familiar objects became new to me too. Public toilets were a source of wonder and Osman, 9, reminded me one day with his head craned beneath a hand drier, grinning: 'This place, this public toilet, is wonderful and magical!'

WEST AFRICA:
Single images made during several visits to West Africa.

CHILD TRAFFICKING:
On Thailand's border with Cambodia, I met a dozen Cambodian children who had been trafficked into Bangkok a few months earlier and were being sent home by the IOM (International Organisation for Migration). The children knew each other well: they had ived on the streets of Bangkok together, selling noodles, flowers and sweets for a local racketeer. All had made the journey home at least twice already, having been resold to traffickers by family members on their return. This time they were to be taken into care.
The UN believes 1.2 million children are trafficked annually, across or within borders, the majority being sold by a close friend or family member. In Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, an organisation called AFESIP (Action for Women in Distressed Situations) is running three homes for victims of trafficking, training women and young girls in skills that they should later be able to earn a living from, and setting up a fair trade silk factory where they can be employed.
Yet Ben Svasti, programme coordinator for Trafcord, an organisation tackling human trafficking on the Thai borders, admits: 'I haven't come across a happily-ever-after case. As time passes, poverty pushes the child or young woman to go out and work again. Success depends where you end your story.'

HIV in SOUTH AFRICA:
A paradigm of strength: families living with HIV sustaining each other in Southern Africa. The pictures were commissioned by Cafod (Zambia 2006) and UNICEF (Malawi 2005).