published 11/16/09

This year, the Portsmouth Holiday Arts Tour is proud to help photographer Nora Simone Happny share her message of hope for the children of Kibera, the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa. Happny captures the vastness of Kibera, its heartache and hope, through her candid images of community life captured during her recent visit in May.

Happny spent her visit participating in an inspired soccer league that has grown to serve 5000 youth as a program of the larger organization, Carolina For Kibera. Carolina For Kibera’s (CFK) mission is to fight abject poverty and help prevent violence through community-based development in Kibera and other parts of Africa. In the Youth Sports Associaiton, the rules of the league require each player to pick up trash in the neighborhood before each game, and teams are made up of multiple ethnic groups in hopes of relieving ethnic tension in the region.

Motivated by the good she saw coming from CFK and the positive effects on Kibera youth, Happny has created a photo diary of her visit which she is presenting this weekend.

Happny’s photographs can be seen throughout the Portsmouth Holiday Arts Tour November 20-22, when fifteen area artists open their private studios at eight locations along a self-guided route winding through Portsmouth. Proceeds from the sale of these photographs will support the CFK.

Watch for tour signs with numbers and balloons as you follow the map to each home studio. All of the artists will be available to discuss their work and answer any questions you may have. The tour is free and open to the public. Work will be for sale and custom orders are welcomed.

Studios are open Friday, November 20 from 5-8pm, Saturday, November 21 from 10am-5pm and Sunday, November 22 from 10am-5pm.

Visit www.portsmouthartstour.com to download a brochure and tour map.