Elizabeth…

22nd May 2014

This weeks post is from an assignment that now seems many a moon ago:

I found myself in Wakefield doing a story for The Sunday Times magazine on teen parenting. We were there to meet Connie a young mother who was currently living at Riverside hostel where tenants are supported with basic needs and training for caring for their children.

Sent upstairs to meet Connie I found myself knocking loudly on a door identical to all the others in the maze like complex, similar to that of university dorms. I could hear blaring heavy music on the other side that hit me hard when the door swung open to reveal a young girl looking unimpressed and dangling a baby from her breast.

“What”

I was uncharacteristically shy. After a few minutes we were aquatinted and Elizabeth  welcomed me in to take her portrait.

I didn’t really have any expectations of what the girls would be like. They all openly vented their circumstantial tales and their tenacity and bravery easily brought the writer to tears after a few of the interviews . These girls let us into their world and shared their stories.

OAO xx