Charity

As I wind my way through New York City’s Soho neighborhood toward photojournalist Scott Harrison’s apartment, my thoughts turn inward as I replay the disconcerting scene from the night before. A private screening of Harrison’s work at the Holasek Weir Projects art space, included heartbreaking video footage of a 34 year-old man named Harris with a basketball-sized tumor protruding from his face. A stunned crowd of over 300 watched in awe as he demonstrated how he eats with the pinkish mass that is slowly suffocating him. Harris is one of the one billion people—over 15 percent of the world’s population—that lives on less than $1 per day. Soho is a long, long way from Harris’ home of Liberia, where Harrison just finished a second tour of duty with Mercy Ships, a floating hospital fleet serving Africa and the Americas.

Originally published in Risen magazine. Full story available upon request.