Our founder, Phil Borges, along with two Volunteer Production Assistants, Rachel Gray and Catherine Cussaguet, just returned from Nepal where they worked with Resurge International. The organization does incredible work to provide free reconstructive surgeries for the poor and builds year-round medical access in underserved areas.
Story by Rachel Gray
Author Rachel working with Phil Borges in the field
In my phone I have a picture of a young girl holding a sign that says “No one is free when others are oppressed.” Photography is becoming my outlet for understanding and experiencing social issues. Truthfully, I have to experience something with my own eyes in order to really care about it. The news does not have this effect on me. The news fights for your attention and before you can breathe the cameras have been turned half way across the world, where another tragedy is being called upon. It’s simply too much! How can one take action, let alone concentrate when there is too much stimulus? (Welcome to America).
Traveling with Phil Borges and ReSurge International has changed my life. Helping make this documentary about burn victims in Nepal was an intimate and powerful experience.
The girl setting next to me barely has a face. Its been burned off completely and she’s now lefts with scars and eyes that don’t blink. Her lips are big and stretched from the contractures. She sits next to me writing (not real words) in my journal. Page after page and I sit quietly next to her writing on the other side of the journal. She’s only five years old, she hasn’t even begun to face the challenges that the future holds for her. It’s hard to think about. She’s silent; I wouldn’t know what to say either. As she sits with me writing her world, I wish for her to become a leader in the face of her tragedy.
Dr. Shankar of Resurge International
Dr. Shankar is by far one of the most extraordinary people I have met in my life. He knows no limits, and has committed his life to helping his nations poorest people. When asked about why and how he got interested in burns, he replied: It’s what was needed. He encourages people go into the world and confront a social challenge. He uses every opportunity to make change and teach his students. Even after coming out of surgery, I would see him around the corner talking to nurses about ‘stop, drop and roll’. He is in the process of building a new hospital in Kathmandu, which he intends to make a teaching hospital. There will be a ward devoted entirely to burn victims. He is turning the cafeteria into a social business where he can hire his patients who are in need of a job. The hospital will run off of biofuel, and there will be an organic garden in the back. His efforts are endless, and it was truly an honor to document his work.
I also had the pleasure of traveling with Sara Anderson, the chief advocacy and communications officer for ReSurge International. On several occasions we accompanied Dr. Shankar to hospitals outside of Kathmandu. We were in the doctor’s office one evening when a young woman in her early twenties arrived for her consultation with Dr. Shankar. Sara was asking Dr. Shankar about her story, as Phil, Catherine (photography intern) and I were filming. Her story was awful, and she was badly burned. Unlike many of the people we met, the pain inflicted on her was intentional. Where was she supposed to go? How is she supposed to find work to support her children? Her family did this to her and now she is shunned by her community. I looked up at Sara. “Welcome to our world,” she said with a compassionate demeanor. This is challenge that ReSurge faces. Surgeries only address a portion of the problem. Preventative care and social outreach are what the future holds for this organization.
Sara Anderson of Resurge (left) with Production Assistant Catherine Cussaguet
Sara, like Phil and Dr. Shankar, gives herself completely to her work. She is truly a leader who is fighting (as she’s smiling) to make great changes. “This is a problem we can solve.” I think that’s where Sara finds her greatest joy. This health crisis is so preventable and the positive change we can make is astounding, if we can rally enough support. She is truly an activist and a champion for the cause.
Phil Borges is a photographer whose work and integrity I continuously admire. Going on this trip with him has opened up a new realm of possibilities for me as a social photographer. “Don’t replace technique for the story. The story is the most important part.” Although I learned a great deal about audio, capturing stills and video, the power was always in the story. When the woman in front of the lens would forget about the camera and lose herself in emotion; that is storytelling. Phil taught me that it’s really about making a connection and honoring a person’s struggles and successes. What I appreciate about Phil more than anything is his kindness towards people. In Kathmandu I remember one man walked by asking us for money. One of us gave him a couple rupees. The man turns to Phil who extends his arm out, placing it next to his. He rolls up his sleeve, two contrasting human colors. ‘Our arms are the same size’ he exclaims and smiles up at the guy. He smiles back. Now you tell me what’s better? Throwing money at someone, or honoring a human life? Phil is an extraordinary teacher. I learned more from him than I did in my entire college career (where I studied photography). Emerging social photographers like myself have a lot to learn from Phil Borges. He uses every opportunity to teach his students, spends time with his subjects, and gets amazing footage.
“Few are those who see with their own eyes, and feel with their own hearts” (Albert Einstein). I encourage and strongly recommend this program to college students or recent graduates. If you are an artist or a journalist and you want to make social change, interning with Phil will give you direction. He has devoted his life to this work for the past twenty years, and will teach you everything he knows (if you are up for the challenge!).