Article by photographer Lisa Kristine.

I am 150 feet down an illegal mineshaft in Ghana. The air is thick with dust and heat. The lack of oxygen makes it hard to breathe.

The brush of sweaty bodies passing me in the darkness reveals the activity in the shaft.

I can hear soft murmurs of miners talking, but mostly the shaft is a cacophony of men coughing and stone being broken with primitive tools.

Eat So They Can is an exciting global fundraising initiative launched by the GVN-Foundation in 2007 to coincide with the UN’s World Poverty Day.

GVN-Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing financial assistance to communities in need around the world.

We believe that local communities are in the best position to determine their needs, and we provide resources to help them achieve their goals.

My mother introduced me to my purpose. Growing up, our family never had much, but she was determined to show her children that we were meant to live generously and look after people in need.

My mother made us aware of our surroundings and instilled a sense of being grateful for the little we did have.

Every holiday, she had us donate our clothes, and she took us to the local church where we wrapped gifts and put together holiday baskets for the less fortunate.

When I was 18 years old, just about step into college with intention to study literature, sociology and political science, I decided I no longer wanted to be financially dependent on my parents.

I needed a job that would pay me enough to support myself. That job turned out to be teaching the children of sex workers in Kalighat, one of the oldest and largest red light areas in Kolkata, India.

I am forever curious and restless, and my life as a photographer allows me to explore the human experience in many ways.

In 2006 after watching a documentary on photojournalists, I had an overwhelming emotional reaction.

As a mother of 5 I couldn’t simply run off and become a war photographer, but, it led me to seek out what this reaction meant. The answer came quickly, as it often does if we are on the right track.