Claudiah Wanjiru

Educate people about burns 26th of June 2019

Educate people about burns

What an amazing, inspiring and brave woman Claudiah Wanjiru is. I had the honour of meeting the 22 year old Kenyan model, in Oxford, on her first trip outside her home country. Claudiah suffered severe burns as a teenager, as a result of a cooking accident. She gave a moving account of her difficult experience and recovery to the BBC here.

After seeing her story, the charity Interburns, invited her to the UK to talk to a group of burns experts from around the world. They also asked me if I would make some portraits while she was here. I was delighted to help out. Claudiah had such a wonderful positive energy and it’s fantastic how she is turning a very traumatic part of her life into an opportunity to help others.

She says that whenever a photographer suggests she wears make up (not something that I would do) she always prefers to show her scars. What a beautiful and strong woman.

I didn’t interview Claudiah in the way I would normally for the How to Make a Difference website, but I still felt her work deserved a mention here.