communities

Overshoot, overwhelm and time

Painting of two noblewomen in ornate ruffs and embroidered dress, each cradling a swaddled infant wrapped in red.

Last month in London, we strolled around Tate Britain, and I was transfixed for a while by ‘The Cholmondeley Ladies’, an oil painting on wood by an unknown artist from the beginning of the 17th century. I’d been looking differently at all the portraits from around that time, trying to find a connection with the …

Read more

“At least we fed the hippos”

“What you do [to provide better aid is] you shut up. You never arrive in a community with any ideas.” Ernesto Sirolli An often funny TED talk from Ernesto Sirolli on listening to communities in development, which also emphasises the importance of consulting entrepreneurs.

Embedding dignity in development

‘A Day Without Dignity‘ was established to provide a counterbalance to the popular image of people in the developing world as hopeless, helpless, and in need of ‘saving’ by affluent Westerners. The latest of these images to be shared around the world are of Ugandans, apparently powerless against the warlord Joseph Kony, waiting for salvation …

Read more

Community development projects start here

A community of people is gathered sat and standing around an open space

I took this photo this morning (it’s actually a composite of ten photos). This is a village meeting with some of the residents of a cocoa growing community near Nsuta. Click to embiggen. I’ve already blogged about a village meeting – timekeeping issues and the like. The image above acts as a kind of roll call. But …

Read more

Nathan Nelson

Land | Food | Nature | People

Get in touch

Email Bluesky LinkedIn Signal

Photos

A view down to the south coast of Devon from Brentor on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. Plymouth Sound on the horizon gleams in the sun, while the sun lights up fields with a few livestock dotted around trees and hedgerows dividing the fields. A road curves up past the fields.Jars of apple jelly, golden in colour, lit by sunlight from behind. The jelly is flecked with mint.A dairy cow grazes in a field as the sun sets in the background.A line of trees seen in silhouette on a grey cloudy day, the hills of Dartmoor in the background.Devil's fingers fungus (Clathrus archeri) in grassland in Dartmoor, Devon. The grass is speckled with dew.

See more at Unsplash

Blog

© Nathan Nelson 2026

Buy me a coffee My wishlist Sifa ID Privacy