Student, Baba's Village, Rajasthan, India, November 21, 2009

So then the next day we visit Baba's village. He has been smiling all week with the thought of visiting his village with the team and so today his smile is even more complete. This man has over the past ten days been instrumental in the work for Humana People to People India, allowing me to complete my work even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Everyone knows him here so we decide to take a small detour to his home and set up our lunch of samosas next to his fields. We meet his wife and she refrains from saying a single word at the same time, a custom my ears have become used to in this land. We eat our samosas in peace and then move onto the school, where about sixty girls have been waiting for us patiently.

We find one of their classrooms perfect and arrange our equipment. The teachers in this school, as well as the Principal, are more than accommodating, arranging chairs for us and even writing the names of the girls down for us. One at a time, the girls sit down for their portraits, starting from the upper classes to the lower. Some girls smile easily and some less so.

Two male students hold the reflector and have fun doing so even though the subjects of my photography are all girls. In the end, they also have their portraits made by me along with the all-male staff and Principal. We leave to a chorus of appreciation.