In The Veins (Peace or Revenge).
Funnelled together on mass in fear of the men with the guns pointing down, hands desperately flaying to grab something that might keep them alive without being trodden to the ground.
Young hands gratefully receive what we take for granted and then battle their way back through the starving crowd. Accompanied by the orchestra of gunfire, explosions, crying and wailing they rush across the bloodstained ground.
Assembled in groups on the graves of their family and friends, they collectively cook their rice and bread. This keeps the door of starvation slightly closed for a while as they eat among the dead.
As you see these young faces covered in dirt, blood and riddled with despair and pain, you have to wonder what thoughts and feelings they will harbour if they make it to become a young man.
Will they remember the brutal cost of war and the sacrifices they had all made although undoubtedly, they will still feel the hurt and pain. In a rebuilt knew land, will they have a loving heart and the wish for peace running through their veins.
Or will they grow forever harbouring grudges and hatred, with a heart filled with wounds that won\'t heal the pain. Where peace is never to be considered an option, in the name of their God the only thought running through their veins is revenge.
Tobani August 2025.