Gianluca Uda was born in Rome in 1982 and he used to live in Viterbo. He took his diploma in surveying and then attended the Faculty of Modern Letters, first in Rome then in Viterbo, but this was not his future. He had his first approach with photography at the age of 7,  when he started to shoot using films. He abandoned the world of photography for 10 years. He started again, this time using digital cameras.

He worked as a bar tender and as a builder. During the 2008 summer he decided to participate in a volunteering experience in Africa.He spent few months of his life in one the poorest city of the world, Iringa in Tanzania, where he really understood what he wanted to do with his life.

After the experience in Africa, he decided to try another experience abroad as a civil servant. He won the “Casco Bianco” competition and in 2009 he left to go to La Paz in Bolivia. In Bolivia he matured the idea of telling about his experience writing  a novel and focusing on a  photo book.

– The Mama Calle (The Mother Street) is a book that tells about the precarious conditions of the street children living in La Paz, using an ironical as well as a cynical tone.

– Bolivian Contrast is a photo book about scenes from ordinary lives

In 2010 he got back to Italy. He was asked to take part in a volunteering projects for a period of one year in one of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh, where he went for two times with John Pope XXIII Association. Because of this experience is now working on the publication of another photo book. In 2011 he went to Sri Lanka. It was an year spent in the Ratnapura City and in the Tamil village of Guluawila, another experience living with the outsiders. In 2011, Gianluca also visited India, this time as a tourist. On 6th February 2012 he went back to Africa which occupies a special place in his heart  (not just for the tattoo). He visited Kenya and more precisely, the Soweto Slum in Nairobi. Gianluca has been living in Ecuador since 2014.

Personal website: www.gianlucauda.it

 

AFRICA CHIAMA is a humanitarian organization that gathers a group of families open to welcome and sharing. It has been working for many years to turn on the lights on one of the most forgotten and oppressed continent and to return to the African Children their denied and violated childhood. AFRICA CHIAMA is an nonprofit organization and follows the D.Lgs. n.460/’97 subscribing the “Charter of Principles and Criteria for Quality Distance Support” to provide to followers and the beneficiaries a guarantee of transparency, efficiency and quality. It has been recorded on the regional registers of the Volunteering Associations (Norms n.100 of the  30.04.01) and on the Association for peace, solidarity and international cooperation register. (Norms n.8 del 2.02.06 of Marche Region). It gained the official recognition of legal personality by the Prefecture of Pesaro-Urbino. (Norm. Decreto n.553 del 22.05.06). It is an NGO (Non governative association), recognized by the Foreign of Affair Ministry in Italy(Lg. n°49 del 26/02/87) In Africa AFRICA CHIAMA takes care of 10.000 children every day with difficulties, AIDS orphans, street and disabled children in Kenya (Nairobi), Tanzania (Iringa) and Zambia (Ndola, Kitwe, Lusaka). We  operate concrete activities, focused on transparency in the following sectors: – Nutrition (20 nutrition centers and 13 school canteens) – Welcome (5 House Centers for Street Children) – Education and training (3 social centers, 1 community school, 2 primary schools, professional courses, school tuition fees contribution and school material). – Prevention and health assistance (infant and maternal health, HIV-AIDS prevention, malaria and tbc) – Microcredit and development projects – Social inclusion (Social and scholastic integration, physiotherapy for disabled children) – Women promotion (actions to give women competences and opportunities) – Sensibilization and advocacy (awareness campaign, seminars and workshops) In Italy We organize events, seminars, didactic paths to spread and promote: – A deep understanding of Africa, – Intercultural education, justice and peace among people; – International volunteering; – Alternative models of sustainable development and alternative business models

Website: www.lafricachiama.org