Omega Photo, in conjunction with The Rose International Fund for Children (TRIFC.org), is holding a fundraising photo exhibit through September.
TRIFC.org is an organization founded by Bellevue photographer Robert Rose that focuses helping disadvantaged children, children with disabilities, and orphans in developing countries.The biggest projects and most recent have been in Nepal in conjunction with the Rotary Club.
Recently Rose took a local Rotary group to Nepal to share what inspires him to continue his work. The resulting photos are from the Rotary club people (including local TV news reporter Penny Le Gate) who were on the trip documenting their journey in Nepal.
The photos in the exhibit will be for sale and 100 percent of them will benefit the Rose International Fund for Children.
“What really motivates and inspires (me) is the magic and change that you can inspire by providing opportunities and education so that a disabled person can contribute to his/her own family,” Rose said.
In the past in Nepal, disabled people were not given the opportunity for rehabilitation, school, or meaningful support within their families and society, he noted.
The funds provide surgeries, food and nutritional support, hearing aides, Braille paper and slates for visually impaired, and educational opportunities and facilities.
More recently TRIFC.org in conjunction with the local and international Rotary clubs are tackling an even bigger and more challenging issue:a three-year project to, “change the cultural perception of people with disabilities and inspire them to believe that they can have useful and productive lives,” Rose said.
“In a county like Nepal where you are seen as an outcast or as having been cursed or committing a past life sin, tackling societal oppression and prejudice is a monumental task,” Rose said.
Rose is a second-generation photographer who began his career helping in his father’s photography studio, Brant Photographers. At an early age, he travelled to Calcutta, India as Rotary exchange student for his junior year of high school where he observed the extreme poverty and wealth of India. That year abroad sparked the confluence of his interests: photography, travel, and making a difference furthering understanding between human beings via photography.
Exhibit host, Omega Photo Specialists is a locally owned and operated business in Bellevue since 1964.
The exhibit runs through Sept. 30. Omega Photo is located at 1100 Bellevue Way NE. The store is open from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
