I took this photo outside of a health center in Kasai in 2014. At the time I felt sorry for this woman, but the desperation pictured here has been driven to deeper depths of my heart now that I, too, am a mother. I imagine myself in this mother’s shoes. Lying there on the concrete with only a piece of fabric separating me from the cold hard floor. Trying to see dreams but seeing only my child lying there on the ground beside me. Wondering wear my next meal will come from and if my milk will continue to flow even though I am so hungry. When I imagine my son there, looking up at me, the compassion that wells up in my heart is unbearable.

Magic 103/365, My Child, Kasai, 2014