Adults have described slum life, but these kids' versions are much better.
These kids might be growing up in tough places, but they don't want you to feel sorry for them — they want you to see their dance moves.
When it comes to seeing images of people in developing countries and war zones, we're all used to seeing "more of the ugly," said filmmaker Adam Sjöberg. But when he traveled the world, visiting Cambodia, Colombia, Uganda, and Yemen, the kids he met didn't want to focus on that.
The kids didn't want to talk about their hardships — they wanted to show off their dance moves.
So Adam shot a film about it. But he didn't just put their cool breakdancing skills on tape. He gave the kids the mic.
It grew into "Shake the Dust," a documentary that shows how breakdancing has changed the lives of children and teens living in poverty across four different countries.
On the streets of Kampala, Uganda, 12-year-old Karim Lokwa works hard at his breaking skills, even though his thumbs are conjoined on one hand. He's also the film's narrator.
He opens the film by saying:
"We have been told that the life of the street is all about survival. But we are doing more than just surviving. Our dream is to change the slums. "
"Hip-hop doesn't belong to any of our traditional cultures, but hip-hop brings us together as a family," added B-boy Abramz Tekya, the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda (B.P.U.).
"We know we can't dance our way out of poverty, but breakdancing fills our hearts with hope."
That's just one of the things Karim explains in the documentary. The filmmaker, Adam, broke down why their global connection with hip-hop is so strong. In an email interview, he told me:
"Many of the characters in this film have no real family to speak of ... but they all had such resilience. Breaking and hip-hop gave them power, reminded them that they have dignity. ... Without education, without my prompting, without any resources, they just see their world as having potential."
— Adam Sjöberg
And these talented hip-hop devotees aren't just talking about change — they're all about changing lives.
In Uganda, orphan Kaweesi Mark is the founder of Break-Fast, one of the largest breakdancing competitions in East Africa. He's also the finance chair of B.P.U., whose mission is "to engage young people in elements of the hip hop culture to build leadership skills and promote social responsibility."
Another B.P.U. member, Kibuuka Mukisa Oscar, who was raised alongside his four brothers by a single mom, helped shoot "Shake the Dust." Afterward, he "took a massive risk for a Ugandan — he got a micro loan for a nice camera. He began shooting on his own — obsessively," says Adam.
And it's changing lives. The 22-year-old now has shows in Europe and was recently profiled on The New Yorker's Instagram feed.
Kibuuka Mukisa Oscar @kibuukaphotography is 22 year-old photographer from Uganda. He documents Hip-Hop culture in Uganda. Kibuuka grew up with a single mother and his four siblings in Kampala. "Doing photography has made it possible for me to support my family, I am able to help my mother and pay my brothers school fees," he says. Kibuuka started doing photography through a youth program called Breakdance Project Uganda and he later started a visual arts program teaching photography and graffiti to kids. His slogan is "Just give a smile to the world." Kibuuka's trip to Addis Foto fest @addisfotofest was made possible by the Goethe Institute and the Moving Africa Program. " It's amazing for me to meet other photographers like Russell Fredrick @rfrederickphoto that documents culture in Brooklyn, and that inspires me with my own work because I am also documenting culture." Photo by @malinfezehai #uganda #ethiopia #addisphotofest #photographer
A photo posted by New Yorker Photo (@newyorkerphoto) on
As Adam readied for the L.A. premiere of "Shake the Dust," he was proud of the respectful story that the documentary tells.
"Because positivity isn't actually that hard to find when you look for it."
— Adam Sjöberg
My feelings exactly. Word. Up.
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
- YouTube youtube.com
Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.