the cult of saint lazaro

17 Milagroso
San Lazaro (‘el viejo’), also called Babalu Aye, is the most venerated saint in Cuba, an amalgam of a Christian saint and a Yoruba god worshiped for centuries by Afrocubans. Every year on San Lazaro’s Day (17 December), thousands of devotees from all over Cuba make a pilgrimage to the Santuario del Rincon, in Santiago de la Vega. Along the way devotees collect money, which they hand over to the Santuario del Rincon on arrival. The money goes to help the San Lazaro Leprosy hospital, which is located in the sanctuary itself.

motörhead

After being sacked from Hawkwind in 1975, supposedly for "doing the wrong drugs," Lemmy Kilmister decided to form a new band, originally to be called Bastard. Realizing that this would preclude them from commercial acceptance, he eventually settled on Motörhead, after a song he had written for Hawkwind. His stated aim was for the outfit to be "the dirtiest rock n' roll band in the world". The name Motörhead was derived from a slang term for an amphetamine user.

While the band are typically classified as heavy metal or speed metal, Kilmister has refused such labels, preferring to describe Motorhead's style simply as "rock and roll." Motörhead's lyrics cover such topics as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance abuse, and "life on the road". Motörhead's approach has remained the same over the band's career and still does about 150 shows every year.

haiti's shock

On Tuesday 12 January, a catastrophic 7.0 M magnitude earthquake hit the island of Haiti. The earthquake killed more than 230.000 people, injured 300.000 and left 1 million homeless.

Pep Bonet went to Haiti on assignment for "Gift of the Givers Foundation"  to document the dramatic situation that Haitians are facing.

forced identity

Pep portrayed transsexuals, that work as commercial sex workers and are HIV positive. In San Pedro Sula, the country's second largest city, AIDS has infected 5.5% of the population. Many of these infections are from prostitutes who work in brothels throughout the country.

one goal - amputees soccer dream team, 2002-2003

Sierra Leone’s amputees are a grim legacy of its 1991-2001 civil war. One of the most brutal aspects of the conflict was the use of amputation as a weapon of fear, by both factions. Many of the victims were innocent young men, who were targeted in order to stop them fighting for an opposing side.

somalia: the invisible trace

For 16 years following the collapse of the Siad Barré regime in 1991, Somalia remained the only country in the world without an effective central government.
International response to the situation in Somalia has to date been insufficient, from both a political and humanitarian point of view.