Children on the swings and slide. The slide ends in sand scattered with footprints. It looks like a playground —and it is. But with no proper toilets nearby, it’s also become something else. This place of play turns into a space of necessity, as can be seen in the third image.
In classrooms and slowly formalizing pre-schools, young children take their first steps into structured learning. As local educators begin receiving formal training and certification, education in Epako is becoming more than an aspiration. These are the building blocks of long-term change —modest, but essential.
When theatre was introduced in Epako’s schools, few expected the impact it would have. For children and teenagers navigating daily life in a settlement marked by poverty and uncertainty, it became a rare outlet for expression, emotion, and play. Through performance, they began to imagine different stories —and possibly, different futures. Sadly, the amphitheater itself, built by the municipality of Smallingerland got neglected and it decayed.
Caring for Elders and Cultivating the Future
In the heart of Epako’s sprawling settlement, a small but vital center cares for the community’s elders — those who have lived through eras of profound change. Here, residents work together to grow their own food, using small gardens to supplement meager supplies. It’s a modest but powerful act of resilience: a community tending to its most vulnerable, while cultivating hope from the dry soil that surrounds them.
In the heart of Epako’s sprawling settlement, a small but vital center cares for the community’s elders — those who have lived through eras of profound change. Here, residents work together to grow their own food, using small gardens to supplement meager supplies. It’s a modest but powerful act of resilience: a community tending to its most vulnerable, while cultivating hope from the dry soil that surrounds them.
Across Epako, visible efforts are underway to improve basic infrastructure: new water fountains installed, toilets being built, and small upgrades to communal spaces. Yet progress is uneven, as the writings on the walls throughout the town emphasised. But these words too, contain power and pride.
Amid the challenges of daily life, football offers a powerful sense of normalcy and pride in Epako. The love for the game goes far beyond childhood play —local and national tournaments draw large crowds, transforming empty lots into arenas of collective celebration.
In Epako, life moves forward in small, determined steps. Amid the challenges, new spaces for learning, gathering, and caring have emerged — shaped by the community's own hands and hopes. This series is a glimpse into that evolving landscape: a place where hardship and progress live side by side, and where even the smallest changes mark the beginning of something bigger.
Friesch Dagblad cover.
Article in the Leeuwarder Courant.
Cover of the limited booklet.
Inside look of the booklet.
Above: Two Newspaper articles from 'De Leeuwarder Courant' and 'Friesch Dagblad' about the exhibition and two images from one of the limited edition books that were printed about the twinning between Gobabis and Drachten (Smallingerland). It contained photographs and interviews with people from Gobabis who were important during the 'twinning' between Smallingerland and Gobabis/Epako.
Below: Exhibition with bigger-than-Life sized photos (over 250 cm wide/8.2021 feet) that I shot in Gobabis, Namibia, covering 32 large panels in the Town Hall alone.
Putting up the images for the exhibition.
