Photographed in 2014 for Flame International.

I’ve travelled with Flame International a few times as they undertake projects in post-conflict zones. I was with them recently in South Sudan to cover their pilot project serving the young people of Nzara. “This is the first time we have been invited to work specifically with youth leaders,” says Jan, the charity’s founder, “and so we’ve put together a team of six ‘Generation Y’ (20s – 30s) volunteers to serve the church in South Sudan for this trip.” It was the first time such a team had been assembled by Flame whose experienced volunteers have travelled across the region many times since 2004, running spiritual and emotional healing conferences, workshops and conventions in Uganda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Whilst there I met many who had been affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who are the most feared rebel group in Africa under the leadership of Joseph Kony – think back to the Kony 2012 online campaign. The LRA raid villages and abduct young boys to join their ranks as child soldiers and girls to be given to their men as sex slaves. To meet, photograph and hear the stories of those who’ve escaped the LRA or had family members abducted and slaughtered was the most humbling experience of my life so far. I will never forget these stunning people. All Images Copyright | Gareth Barton 2013

Photographing members of what is considered to the the remotest Maasai tribe on the planet throws up some interesting challenges. I mean, I’m a portraitist at heart and that applies to all my photojournalism, so when you’ve taken several flights and land rover trips to get to these communities it’s interesting to be told that they really don’t like having their picture taken! They believe that if you take their picture that you capture something of their soul and take it away with you. They have a phrase that roughly translated means, “You are sucking my blood”. Thankfully I was covering a missionary family who have built up great relationships with the people and were able to give me access into the lives of these very private people – from witnessing ceremonies to drinking sweet tea in the smoky darkness of a dung-walled hut. By far the most privileged moment was when given the chance to photograph the young Maasai Warrior above. These young men are notoriously reclusive and live their lives in the bush to protect their communities from any threat. I think you can see how unsure he was but he smiled a broad grin, laughed out load and shook my hand vigorously when I showed him the image on my camera. What a day. All Images Copyright | Gareth Barton 2013

A few years back I had the awesome privilege of travelling with a UK-based charity to Burundi to cover their work with genocide survivors near the border with Rwanda. The stories I heard were tragic and horrifying but the people were courageous and beautiful. I saw the young girl in the picture above when visiting the cathedral on a Sunday morning. I spoke to the Mother’s Union about her T-shirt and they told me that the family didn’t speak any english and had no idea what they’d bought at the local market, where clothes given to charity in the UK are sold to the poor for a profit. I’m not sure how to describe it but it didn’t sit very easily with me and so I arranged with her family to do a swap. I got her a new dress for ‘Sunday best’ and took the T-shirt in return. She was such a shy little creature but she managed a beautiful smile as she showed off her new outfit. I’m still not sure how I feel about that episode – maybe it was just selfish and I’m sure there are more important things to worry about in these places but, hmmm. I remember crouching down to take some images when the rubber sole of one of my shoes split in half. Back home they would have gone in the bin but in Burundi this was unthinkable. Within a few hours one of the guys drove me into Ngozi, where a shoe repairer in the market remoulded both my shoes with old tyre treads and they’re still going strong today! If you ever get the chance to go to Burundi, take it. It’s a beautiful place. All Images Copyright | Gareth Barton 2013