The dreams of children – a photo essay

A dream can represent personal identity, creativity and ambition. Photographer Chris de Bode, working with Save the Children, decided to try to capture a dream in a photo. Most of the children he approached had never been asked the question ‘What do you dream of?’ But all of them had a dream locked up inside, waiting to be heard

Some children knew exactly what their dream was, others needed encouragement but all of them had clear personal motives for the dream. All dreams have the same things in common: they always represent a solution, fulfilment or escape from heartache, longing and ambition.

My father is a rice farmer. He works really hard, but it pays very little. Most people here grow rice, maize or beans. I want to be a different kind of farmer. I want to grow cows! Milk is healthy. It has a lot of proteins and calcium. I learned that in school. I want to have a farm with a lot of cows. People don’t have to pay much to buy the milk.

I dream of living in a peaceful home with a father and a mother. That is normal for most children, but I never had that experience. I felt broken when things got rough at home and I had to be separated from my parents. I learned that a home is very fragile.

I want to be a maths teacher. I read about a girl who was not allowed to go to school. Her parents didn’t have the money for her fees, because they had a debt to a business partner. The girl thought something was wrong, so she stayed up all night to redo the calculations. It turned out it was the other way around: the partner owed her father money! Her father didn’t trust the girl’s calculations so he went to a maths teacher. He told him that his daughter was right. He was so happy and rewarded the girl by sending her to school. I like the story, because it shows how important it is to read, write and understand mathematics.

I want to be the fastest man in the whole world. Everybody at school and in my village will be proud of me. I dream of the moment I arrive in our village with my medal and trophy. Everybody claps and cheers for me. I will be lifted on my friend’s shoulders and my parents will be the proudest of all. To achieve my dream, I practise every day. I can run for hours without sore muscles.

I am very good in volleyball, running and mathematics. I dream of becoming the best volleyball player in the world. I guess that will never happen, so I want to become a heart surgeon in real life.

I was born as Renske, a girl. I was born in the wrong body. I have always felt like a boy. I dream of actually being one. I take masculine hormones. Next year I will have a breast removal surgery. I can’t wait. The hormones cause a lot of damage to my skin. But that is worth it. I enjoy lying in my bed with my binoculars to watch the birds in the sky.

I watch a TV series about a hospital every week. One of the main characters is the heart surgeon. He can always heal his patients. I dream of being him, because my aunt has a heart problem. If I would be the actor, I could make sure she is healthy again.

I was really sick, so my parents took me to Save the Children’s mobile clinic. The doctor gave me an injection and a few hours later, I felt much better. Now, I also want to become a doctor. I want to make other children feel better. I know a doctor earns a lot of money. I would buy a big house for my family and real leather sandals. I would take all my friends to a restaurant to eat pizza. I never ate one in my life, but I have heard that they taste really good.

We never had books in our school. Now we have a nice reading corner where I can sit and read a book. I especially liked the book about a girl who takes care of flowers. I dream of being her. I take really good care of the plants at home. I water them every day and tell them stories. One of our plants has flowers. They smell really good.

I had it all before the war. I was happy. Then the war started. We had to run for our lives. We wanted to take the path through the valley behind me. It is the border between Syria and Jordan. But they flooded the valley so refugees couldn’t pass. We had to walk many extra kilometres. Snipers were shooting at us. Bullets flew everywhere around me. I am lucky to be alive. I don’t know why they did that. I am not the enemy. I am just a boy with simple dreams: I want to be happy again. I am so close to home, but so far away at the same time. It is unreachable, just like a new chance at happiness.

I dream of being a red bird. Red is my favourite colour. I would fly high in the sky and go everywhere. I will fly to my grandmother. She lives around the corner, but birds are faster than my feet. I would also go to my sister. I have to walk for an hour to see her. And I will fly to my aunt in the big city. The blue wall is just around the corner of my house. I pass it a hundred times a day. From now on, I will think of today, my dream and of the photograph. It is so much fun to be the centre of attention.

I dream of many things. After the earthquake in 2010 I had terrible nightmares for a long time. Now I have happy dreams again. Sometimes I dream of becoming a taxi driver and sometimes of being Michael Jackson.

Many girls are not allowed to go to school or only for a couple of years. Then they are required to help at home, to get married or go to work. I am lucky that I can still go to school. I love all animals, especially dogs. People usually don’t take good care of their pets. I want to become a veterinarian, so I can help these poor animals. I will have to study hard, but I am determined.

I saw a TV programme about the universe. It was so fascinating. Now I dream of flying into space. I want to go to the moon. It must be fantastic to see our planet from space. I wonder if I would recognise India. Becoming an astronaut is my goal in life.

People were very sad after the earthquake. They lost family members, friends and their houses. When I play the clown, I can make people laugh again. I feel sad when people are sad.

I want to be a king. The first thing I would do is give people safety and security. People don’t have that in Afghanistan. My country is the most unsafe place to live in the whole world. If I were king, I would also make sure that everybody in Afghanistan has a job. If each family has an income, nobody has to live in poverty. Unemployment is a big problem. People get bored when they don’t work and they start to fight. A king faces many problems. It must be hard to be a king.

I always have to wear my nieces’ hand-me-downs. I never had the experience of picking the prettiest dress in a shop. I want to feel beautiful in clothes that reflect who I am. The slum is smelly and dirty. There are people and garbage everywhere. I am sure that I would feel much better here with new clothes. I would look like a movie star. Everybody would turn their heads and say: ‘Sabina is the most beautiful girl in the slum.’

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2QgVrmX