Published Friday, 15 March 2013
Treasured Kids PS, in Kampala, was the 20th school built by Fields of Life. (© Johnathan Porter)
Fields of Life was originally set up by Reverend Trevor Stevenson and his wife Ruth who spent several years living in Luwero, Uganda in the early 1990s.
Their original vision was to set up and run an agricultural farm project to train local people to grow their own food and care for orphans and vulnerable people.
Rev Stevenson and his wife lived in an area known as 'The Killing Fields', which had experienced genocide and economic devastation.
They decided the area needed to be provided with something that would help its transformation - education.
They also wanted to share the Christian faith by collaborating with local communities and churches to bring about positive change in their lives.
Over the years, the NI husband and wife - and their growing team - have done this through the provision of quality education, clean water, health promotion and community projects.
Two decades on and the charity's work has expanded to include Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
To date, they have constructed over 107 schools throughout East Africa with over 44,000 children currently receiving the education that will enable them to break out of the cycle of poverty and hardship.
"Fields of Life are also passionate about providing safe, clean water to vulnerable and marginalised communities," a spokesperson said, before adding that so far the organisation has drilled more than 270 wells to provide hundreds of thousands of villagers with clean, safe drinking water.
The photo exhibition has a range of prints on display taken by award winning snapper Jonathan Porter in May 2011 and May 2012 while travelling around Uganda and Rwanda visiting Fields of Life projects.
It's just one of a number of activities planned for 2013 to celebrate the charity's progress over the last two decades.
A tractor drive around Ireland is a highlight in the jam packed events calendar.
Fields of Life's current CEO Richard Spratt will be taking the helm this time around, leading a convoy of cyclists around the country.
Richard is aiming to cover 500 miles over a seven day period in August and is looking for people to join him.
Rev Stevenson first completed the tractor trek in 1993 as Field of Life's first major fundraising event.
The money raised back then was used to build a school in Uganda. This time around, the funds will go to the organisation's Water Drilling Programme.
Fields of Life telephone: 028 38 390395
* Fields of Life's photographic exhibition will run at Belfast City Hall until Thursday 28 March.