#REVISITED: Return to Uganda

Photojournalist Nick Danziger is currently traveling with author Rory Maclean to eight countries as part of the #REVISITED project – where they are documenting the impact of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and how progress (or lack of progress) can inform post-2015 targets. 

It had been four years since Nick Danziger last visited Judith and her three sisters. As we drove from Kampala Uganda’s capital to Gulu, 345KM away, Nick did not know what to expect.

In Uganda, Nick has been following a family of four sisters – Judith, Gloria, Monica and Mirium – from almost 10 years. When Nick first met the girls in 2006, they were already orphaned. Today they are aged, 18, 11 and 16 respectively – except Gloria who passed on.

“When I was last there Monica was undernourished and Judith was excluded from the orphanage while she was pregnant,” said Nick as we approached Gulu.

But whatever he would find would reveal – at a micro-level – Uganda’s progress in achieving the Millennium Development goals.

We found the sisters living with their aunt, sharing a small rugged house. They still lacked enough food. According to Mirium, they have to sell brooms on a daily basis in order to eat. If they don’t not make a sale, they go hungry that day.

They also worked on people’s gardens for a small wage, usually less than a dollar a day, as a source of income. Monica and Mirium are being supported by a non-government organisation to pay their school fees.

We discussed the death of Gloria. She had hepatitis B and it is believed to have been the cause of her death. The sisters think that had Gloria been diagnosed early and given proper care, she would have survived. Monica, the youngest, now goes to school but has a hearing impairment in one ear, perhaps as a result of under nourishment.

Judith, the one who was pregnant in 2011 has since been adopt together with her three year old son and they currently live in Kampala with their adopted parents. She comes once a year to visit her two sisters.

“There has been an incredible change and I never expected to see them again,” said Nick as we left Gulu. 

As Nick revisits families and communities – documenting how their lives have changed – over the coming months, we will be sharing his progress. Follow @WorldVisionUN and #REVISITED for updates.