Photographs of children with birth defects living on banana plantations in Costa Rica. The photographs won an award from UNICEF and were published in German Geo.

Info

In the early seventies banana plantations used a pesticide called Nemagon to kill worms in the roots of the banana plants. The pesticide was extremely toxic and sterilized roughly 10,000 men throughout Central America. Some of these men were compensated during a long and lengthy legal process that continues today. It was very difficult to prove the damage done to their wives and children. The question of a deeper damage remains and it is clear that there is something wrong in the communities where these and other products were used. I spent time with the families and the children of some of these men in Costa Rica. The project won the UNICEF Child Photo of the Year Award which included an assignment to follow up with the work for German GEO magazine.