The Gallery
All text and photographs copyright of Our Forgotten Children
Venezuela
As we drift towards the river bank, the children swim into view, splashing in the water beneath the wooden jetty.
It's around noon and we've spent the last hour being ferried down river, seeing nothing but dense jungle on either side. But a break in the trees has revealed an Indian village, around forty wooden houses spaced well-apart, and an expanse of rough grass where cows and pigs roam free...
The village of Santa Domingo survives without any help from the state. All their food is home-grown. Bead necklaces, and hammocks and colourful blinds, all exquisitely woven by the women, are taken down-river by their menfolk, who work in the Orinoco river tourist camps. There, a single hammock can fetch $100.
For the children, there are no absolute rules. Time is measured by sunrise and sunset. School begins in the morning when everybody shows up. At night they play outside in the dark, before falling asleep in their hammocks, swaying gently in the Orinoco breeze.
It's late afternoon now and, up on the jetty, the children are still playing. The boys - Sandro, Alvaro, Jilvy and Samil - dare each other to dive in backwards. The girls - Doraxi, Almiri and Suliani - watch from the side, flashing their amazing smiles.