Josipa Galic, who is originally from Siroki Brijeg but lives in Zagreb, exhibited the photographs that she made during her trip to Africa. The exhibition took place at the National Library in Siroki Brijeg on Saturday night.
The exhibition was named “Ubuntu” and it has a humanitarian character. All collected funds are intended for the construction of a playground for girls that are situated in the House of “John Paul II” in Benin, one of the poorest countries in Africa.
The author of the exhibition visited Africa four times, and she is preparing for the fifth trip. She said that after the first stay, the desire for Africa becomes bigger and stronger. “You leave a part of your heart there and you keep coming back.”
“I went to Africa, more precisely in Kenya, for the first time in the summer of 2012 and it was the best decision in my entire life. I decided to visit Africa while listening to a missionary and I just felt a calling and left. Kenya, the country on the east side of Africa is just beautiful, wild and so colourful. When I came there, I realized that they are not people from some ugly stories. They are hospitable. They welcome you with their arms wide open and offer the best they have. They do not have some basic living conditions, including water, food and electricity. Something that we have in large amounts. After the first stay, the desire for Africa becomes just bigger and stronger. You leave there a part of your heart and you keep coming back,” said Josipa.
“When it comes to the name of the exhibition, I was a bit in doubt. I did not want it to be a classic – my Africa, a heart for Africa, but I wanted a name with a deeper meaning. While staying there, I learned their philosophy, ethical and humanistic philosophy called “Ubuntu”. I am what I am because we are what we are. It is easy to break a single straw, but it is difficult to break the bunch of straws. If I am hungry, then we are all hungry. If you are thirsty, we are all thirsty,” noted Galic.
She said that when she was sharing candies after a meal, sometimes she would skip someone in a hurry, but the other girls would not start eating until the last of them would get her candy.
“They are only children who are wishing chocolate, but they live the spirit of communion and they truly believe in it. When we are going there, we think that we can change them in some way, but actually they change us,” concluded Galic, who believes that the Europeans could learn a lot from the people of Africa.
(Source: faktor.ba)
