THIS IS LIZ & BEN IN PORTLAND
These are some photos of our dear friends Liz & Ben. We stayed with them in Portland on our trip across the states last November and one morning we all went out for a walk for a Pine State breakfast, coffee, and a meandering walk through the park, and we brought along our cameras. We had met them at a conference we attended in Portland earlier in the year.. and hours later after a conversation over beers in a basement bar, we had a feeling we'd be crossing paths again soon :) I'm so glad we did because I love these guys.Liz & Ben own a company called Sseko Designs (pronounced Say-ko). Put simply, they are a for-profit company that hires around a dozen young women in Uganda to make gorgeous sandals.. while these women are employed by Sseko for around nine months, they are receiving a salary (and a scholarship) from Sseko, plus tons of additional training, in order to enable them to attend university. This is huge, as opportunities for employment in Uganda, especially for women, are limited, and the prospect of attending university to pursue their bigger dreams.. extremely limited. I LOVE what these guys are doing. You really should read the whole story, here.Here's the thing. So Dave & I wanted to do something off the beaten path when it comes to within the photography industry. We wanted a way to give back that was different, that made sense to us, that was more than simply donating our (limited) money somewhere. Early in 2012, we decided the way we wanted to do that was to go on this month long trip, connect with people along the way, and document a piece of their story for them, for free, or truthfully in most cases in exchange for amazing conversation and a bed to sleep in at night :) Of course, we ended up being the ones blessed in the end. Of course, we ended up learning so much from doing this. Every single person we met up with on this trip taught us something. Every single person was living a life off the beaten path, choosing to take a road less traveled, something that was different from 'the norm' but true to what they believed, even though it is difficult at times.Liz & Ben are wonderful, wonderful people. They have seen a problem with how the world currently works and are fighting to make it different, better. I admire them a lot. I also know that Liz & Ben possess nothing more than you or I do. They have the same doubts and fears. They didn't have a leg up, or a million 'connections', they did not graduate from the most prestigious business schools, they certainly did not start with tons of money in the bank to get this thing going. We all have it inside of us already.. they simply started, and they kept putting one foot in front of the other.
Liz & Ben, love you guys, and thank you for your friendship, talks, hugs, air mattresses, everything. Here's a little video we put together of our morning.. :) Just click play.Here's another little video about the Sseko story if you're interested in learning more! I also want to encourage you to order a pair of Ssekos today! No better way to mark the first day of spring! I have a pair and they are super comfy -- you can usually spot a pair on my feet at all the summer weddings we photograph. There are also some gorgeous totes + clutches if sandals aren't your thing!Thanks for letting me share a bit of the Sseko story, the Liz & Ben story, and the story of taking a road less traveled here today and for reading along.. means the world. xo, jenn