This photo was taken in the northern remote village of Bangolan in Cameroon, West Africa; although I can’t be quite certain where it is, since it is not on any map I have ever seen. I had traveled there with a group from my university, planning to visit the orphans that live there. Bangolan is made up mostly of AIDS orphans who now live with friends, relatives, or other generous people who have brought them into their home.

I wish I could give you their names but both kids were so shy we could hardly get a word out of them. The day before the boy on the left was wearing a soccer jersey with the name Ronaldo on his back, so we took to calling him that.

All the kids really enjoyed playing with the cameras and we tried for a long time to get them to make silly faces, though they couldn’t understand the concept. This shot was actually quite accidental, and you can see, they usually just stared, beautifully.