Alex Rumford Photography

Hundreds of poor Nepali families work in the brick fields of the Kathmandu valley for several months of the year. They work from before sunrise until after sunset. pay is very low for this demanding work in extremely difficult conditions. The wonderful BCS charity offers hope for the hundreds of children who have to work alongside their parents, and miss out on their education. Please visit my charity page to find out more.

A variety of pictures from the beautiful italian island - people, places, festivals, and several cats

Benchen Monastery, Kathmandu. These pictures were taken one afternoon while lost in the back streets. I stumbled across these young novice monks playing marbles and stopped for a while.

Bodie State Historic Park is a deserted gold-rush town in California. In its heyday, it was pure "Wild West", a lawless and depraved place of crime, corruption and murder. Now perfectly preserved, a fifth of the original buildings still stand, their interiors as they were when the last residents left fifty years ago. I stopped by only briefly on a dark and rainy afternoon and took pictures of the buildings.

Men gamble illegally on cockfighting in Bali, but at this annual religious event no money changes hands. razor blades are attached the the birds' feet and they are held up close to their enemy to enrage them. The fights tend to last only a few moments and end when one of the birds is dead, or dying. These birds are later eaten as part of the festival. You may find some of these images distressing.

In the afternoon about fifty men and boys choose spiny leaves from a pile and take turns to go into the circle where they fight to draw first blood, all the while getting more and more drunk. Nobody seemed to know or care who was the victor from each round.

A selection of photographs taken around the western side of the Annapurna circuit in Nepal. Enjoy!

This stylised dance performance, to drum beats and horns, involved over thirty monks at a Kathmandu Buddhist monastery.

BCS takes the children from the brick fields (see above) and educates, feeds and clothes them so they can have a brighter future. These pictures were taken of the school which is situated among the fields.

This very worthwhile charity supports physically challenged children at the Disabled New Life Centre in Kathmandu. Their families are often extremely poor and live in remote mountain villages. There is no state assistance for vulnerable children, so the centre works extremely hard to give the children a happy and secure home, medical assistance and education. The trust focuses on offering sustainable support to ensure the children’s long term care.

Shiva charity works in Nepal and Sri Lanka, providing education and support for poor children by building schools, running sponsorships, helping with uniforms and equipment and fees. There are many ways you can help this extremely dedicated charity. These photos are from two of the schools.

This organisation works for the rights of the child and against exploitation. Its main areas of concern are child labour, street children, child marriage, bonded labour, trafficking of children, children in conflict with laws and commercial-sexual exploitation of children. These are some of the pictures taken at two of the centres to give a sense of the kids and daily activities.

BDS supports the minority lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, and works tirelessly for their human rights, recognition and respect. These pictures were taken at their centre one day at a medical examination; many of the patients in these pictures have HIV or AIDS.