Dhobi wallah Photo

Photographer’s Note

A typical street scene in outer Kampala.
Aunt Night cleaners. Otherwise known in some circles as a Dhobi wallah.
The phrase Dhobi Wallah came in to the English language from India. It was bought back by soldiers stationed there in Victorian days.
A Dhobi is a person who washes clothes and so on, they will often collect wash, iron, starch and return them for a fee. Wallah is simply a word for a person who does something, in this case washing.
Further on we see a shop selling mobile phone cards, mobile phones in Africa are big business.
With no state support for the unemployed everyone has to earn a living where they can.

worldcitizen, fanni, westcoastgirl1 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

fanni (8733) 2009-02-23 14:07

Hello Mike,
interesting photo - it shows the part of the world to which not everyone can easily travel. This scene says much about the people's life and the country in general. Of course this is just a glimpse, but cameras see more than our eyes!
Interesting Note to the photo, too :)
Best regards,
Elena

westcoastgirl1 (995) 2009-11-07 13:42

Hi Mike

Unique street view for me and fantastic write up. I learned something from you. I like the hazy, overcast atmosphere to the photo it works well.

Keep your pictures coming,
TFS Tosca