The month when everything changed

Friends, colleagues, partners,

It has been an incredibly turbulent month since we launched Life on Earth Pictures in mid-February, a month that has seen emerging crises around the spread of the new Coronavirus.

Recent photos by Sean Hawkey show otherwise densely populated areas of London lay largely deserted, supermarkets full of empty shelves, and we’ve seen work we had in the pipeline for Central America, CAR, Colombia, South Sudan and the Philippines, be postponed until the Coronavirus is under control and travel restrictions are lifted.

We remain humbled and deeply grateful for the words of encouragement we’ve received since our launch in mid-February, and we’ve had the pleasure to sign the first few clients to our online archive, from which these annual subscribers can now draw photos at their leisure from more than 90 countries.

It was a month that began by the collection of a wealth of recent stories from the Middle East, particularly from Palestine and Jordan through the work of Albin Hillert, and from Central America through Sean Hawkey.

And we’ve had the opportunity to share a few of the insights we have from visual storytelling ‘behind the scenes’, through various posts on the Life on Earth Pictures blog.

Our photos continue to be used on the web and across different media as people around the globe adapt to new circumstances, bracing themselves for the impact of the new pandemic, finding new ways to continue old traditions, and reevaluating what the things are in life that matter the most.

And while we do not yet know for how long the spread of the Coronavirus will continue, one thing we do know is that we will continue to make our material accessible through Life on Earth Pictures, that we remain committed to collaborate with partners around the globe, to bring you material that you can use.

Let’s stay in touch, remember to check out our archive, and don’t forget to stay tuned for updates from Life on Earth on social media as well.

Stay safe,
Albin, Sean, and Paul

Ps. Life in quarantine can be tense. Take a moment to keep scrolling, and you’ll find some of those moments when people take care of each other, pursue dreams, challenge injustice, or just go about their daily life.

18 February 2020, Amman, Jordan: Basketball training is underway at the Rufaida Al Aslamieh Primary Mixed School in the Sahab district. The school serves more than 1,000 students from kindergarten up to 10th grade, most of them girls from Jordan but also some from Syria and other countries, and, in the lower grades, also boys.

20 February 2020, Za’atari, Jordan: Mohammad Abu Bakar bakes bread in a bakery in Za’atari, Jordan.

20 February 2020, Za’atari Camp, Jordan: A girl practices keeping the ball in the air, during football practice for girls in the Peace Oasis, a Lutheran World Federation space in the Za’atari Camp where Syrian refugees are offered a variety of activities on psychosocial support, including counselling, life skills trainings and other activities.

19 February 2020, Amman, Jordan: 10-year-old Bayan (left), a girl born with Cerebral Palsy, walks with her mother Eman Ahmed (right) to the Al Yarmouk Primary Mixed School, in the Lewa’a Al Jama’a district. Following three years in a school exclusively for children with disabilities, today Bayan attends 4th grade at Al Yarmouk, which has recently opened up to receive her. The school teaches some 750 students from 1st – 6th grade, most of them Jordanian, but some also from Syria and other countries. The school has received support from the Lutheran World Federation in refurbishing their buildings and classrooms, as well as training on protection and social cohesion, including how to become more inclusive of children with disabilities.

24 February 2020, Jerusalem: Four-year-old Lana, from Gaza, watches a video in the paediatric ward at the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem. With the support of the Lutheran World Federation, Lana has come to the hospital to spend a full month there, in order to go through radiotherapy treatment for a brain tumor.

25 February 2020, Jerusalem: 17-year-old student Osama Sonqrut, from Al Ram, practices the use of a grinding tool, as class is underway in Metal Work at the vocational training centre in Beit Hanina. The Lutheran World Federation’s vocational training centre in Beit Hanina offers vocational training for Palestinian youth across a range of different professions, providing them with the tools needed to improve their chances of finding work.

24 February 2020, Jerusalem: Palestinian child Murad is five years old. At the age of one, he was diagnosed and treated for Hepatoblastoma, a rare malignant liver cancer occurring in infants and children. Today, he is at the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem for a CT Scan and follow up.

24 February 2020, Jerusalem: Children receive Dialysis treatment at the Augusta Victoria Hospital.

16 February 2020, Irbid, Jordan: Fatima Al-Omari works in her garden in Al-Mazar. She is one of many beneficiaries to recently have received support from the LWF in setting up home-based farming in the area of Al-Mazar. By providing tools and seeds, the project has helped 150 families grow food for themselves and, in some cases, also earn an income from selling their surplus at local markets.

25 February 2020, Jerusalem: The separation wall closes off Bethany from Ras al Amoud near the Mount of Olives.

25 February 2020, Jerusalem: Students work on adjusting the steering on a car during auto-mechanics class at the vocational training centre in Beit Hanina. The Lutheran World Federation’s vocational training centre in Beit Hanina offers vocational training for Palestinian youth across a range of different professions, providing them with the tools needed to improve their chances of finding work.

26 February 2020, Abu Dis, Palestine: Nurse Najwa Hawamdeh administers a foot exam as 87-year-old Diabetes patient Hamama Jaffal from Abu Dis visits the Augusta Victoria Hospital’s Mobile Diabetes Clinic. Here, testing the sensitivity of her feet through a monofilament sensitivity test. In an effort to make Diabetes services more accessible to people in the West Bank, the Augusta Victoria Hospital offers a Mobile Diabetes Clinic, which moves around to various locations in the West Bank, offering screening and routine testing for Diabietes and the symptoms it causes.

26 February 2020, Abu Dis, Palestine: A woman walks towards the Al-Quds (‘Jerusalem’) University in Abu Dis, with the separation wall mounted by the Israeli authorities in the background.

26 February 2020, Abu Dis, Palestine: 16-year-old Diabetes patient Abdel Rahman prepares to have a fundus photo for the retina taken by supervisor Ziad Paradiah. In an effort to make Diabetes services more accessible to people in the West Bank, the Augusta Victoria Hospital offers a Mobile Diabetes Clinic, which moves around to various locations in the West Bank, offering screening and routine testing for Diabietes and the symptoms it causes.

27 February 2020, Ramallah, Palestine: People go about their day at the fruit market in central Ramallah.

27 February 2020, Ramallah, Palestine: 29-year-old Jihad Albaba, from the Am’ari Camp, works in a small shop in Ramallah, after graduating from studies in Telecommunication at the Lutheran World Federation vocational training centre in Ramallah. Here, she works on fixing the wifi functionality of a mobile phone.

A nine-year-old Palestinian boy plays in the rubble, after part of his family home has been demolished in the Shu’fat village in Jerusalem. As building permits are notoriously difficult, in some cases impossible, for Palestinians to obtain, demolition of houses stated not to have the relevant permits is common in the area. This time, the family lost their living room, two bathrooms, and kitchen.