04/16/2026
When I was eight years old, I discovered my first National Geographic Magazine—and to me, it was better than any doll I had ever been given.
I would hide in the closet to escape the demands of work at home. And in that small, quiet space, I found a much bigger world. Page after page, the images came alive—places I had never seen, people I had never met.
But what captured my heart were the children.
Children who were hungry. Children who were living in poverty. Children whose eyes told stories no child should have to carry.
I cut out their photos and taped them to my bedroom wall.
My father saw them and said, “Take them down.”
I remember looking at him and saying, “But Dad, I want to help them. They’re so poor…can’t we do something?”
“No. Stop this nonsense,” he replied.
And in that moment, something settled deep within me.
Even as a child, I knew this wasn’t nonsense.
It was purpose.
That day didn’t discourage me—it defined me. It planted something in my heart that never left.
And everything I have done since…has been in service of that moment.
Six decades later, I am still fulfilling my promise & purpose.
These images were captured in South Africa while filming "The Invisible Ones". My first documentary.
