Every year hundreds of thousands of people are displaced and left without a country to call their own. Their names are stripped and they are called "Refugee". After displacement they have a small window of opportunity to move to a new country and start a new life. The US takes 17% of the worlds displaced peoples and helps them to begin again. This is a selection of photos from one single mothers transition from Rwanda to America. Jeanette lives in a two bedroom apartment with eight children.
Every year hundreds of thousands of people are displaced and left without a country to call their own. Their names are stripped and they are called "Refugee". After displacement they have a small window of opportunity to move to a new country and start a new life. The US takes 17% of the worlds displaced peoples and helps them to begin again. This is a selection from a series of photos documenting a family of nine and their transition from Rwandan refugee camps to America. This image was taken on the first night. David the second oldest son asked that I take a portrait of him. He stands in a traditional tribal stance holding onto the lamp as if it were a staff. There is a contrast between his old clothes under his new american jacket and his new industrialized setting that mirrors the contrast between his old and new life he will soon confront.