I am 26 years old and currently a student at Seattle University. Adulthood has been a strange, but interesting ride for me so far. I’ll sum it up briefly. After graduating form high school in San Diego, I went to San Diego State for three years on the business track. After feeling burned out, I dropped out and moved to Maui to work at a bar and grill. There, I lived out of a van while I waited tables. I did this for seven months before joining the Air Force as a C17 Loadmaster. In the Air Force, I was able to finish a degree in liberal studies and travel the world extensively (seeing about 40 countries all the continents). After serving in the Air Force from March 2006-March 2010, the G.I. Bill has allowed me to pursue a second bachelors degree (BFA Photography); I am still affiliated with the AIr Force as a part-time reservist. I grew up in many different places, but I consider San Diego my hometown. I hope to pursue a career in documentary photography with the aim of working for NGOs and NonProfits both here in the US and overseas.

I ended up in Nicaragua due to a number of different reasons. I wanted to photograph for an organization that was tackling a major issue. Water was something that I was initially drawn to because of how basic it is. We ARE water, so it is astonishing to think that so many people lack access to clean drinking water. Through some internet searching, I found Photophilanthropy.org, which provided me the contact information for Lisa Nash of Blue Planet Network. She forwarded me Rajesh Shah’s info and the planning stages began. I originally inquired about the projects in Guatemala, but after hearing that Tristan and Jodi were planning their trip soon (at that point in the Spring), I decided that Nicaragua might have more of a need for photographs. I had never traveled to Central America and was intrigued with learning the language as well as about the history and culture of the country. Through many emails with Rajesh as well as Carmen Gonzalez and Cecile Santonja of Agua Para La Vida and Rob Bell of El Porvenir, I was able to coordinate my trip. It was a challenging but extremely rewarding experience. I spent the first week brushing up on my Spanish at a language school in the city of Esteli. I got to learn some things about the culture and history of Nicaragua. My teachers were amazing as well as the family that I stayed with. The next two weeks were when I began my work with Agua Para La Vida. They showed me many different projects and the communities that benefitted from them. They even helped to coordinate my visit with El Porvenir. Many of the interviews that I conducted were a bit vague because of the difficulty in understanding some of the dialects, but Esteban Cantillo of APLV helped me understand it as well as Jackie Powell from Agua Para La Salud. I felt like I got to know an authentic aspect of Nicaragua and I was completely amazed by the people that I met. Many of the farmers in the very remote villages that we visited were so gracious and thankful to have access to what I would consider a basic human right. It was humbling in every way and I feel honored to even attempt to communicate their experiences.

I hope that these photographs can increase awareness and help the organizations and people that they represent. I would like to sincerely thank everybody at Blue Planet Network, Agua Para La Vida, El Porvenir, Jackie from Agua Para La Salud (Guatemala) and also Escuela Horizonte Spanish School for all the help and making this trip and these photographs possible.