Behind the lens: The story of a little Indian girl named Bobby

[words and photographs © Mirjam Letsch, The WideAngle]

When Bobby was a young girl living in Nagwa slum, she had a serious wound in her head – with maggots creeping out. An X-ray in Benaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India, showed that the maggots were trying to eat into her skull – literally – and we had to apply an aggressive fluid twice a day, to force those creatures out of the little girl’s head. Bobby’s mother died due to tuberculosis and her father doesn’t want to have her. For years now, she has lived with her grandmother, Geeta, who takes care of her to the best of her abilities. At times, I am scared that Geeta, who has a weak health, will not live long. What then will happen to Bobby? She attends our school at Duniya Foundation, and I really love her. The picture above is recent and part of my Duniya Photo Collection (sales will benefit our projects). The picture below was 10 years ago, in the month of April when we tried to get rid of the maggots.

Dutch photographer Mirjam Letsch is a member of The WideAngle photographer’s network. She is based in the Netherlands, but works in Asia on a very regular basis. For more images by The WideAngle photographers, please click here.