Gurkha settlement in the UK
A busy, yet very enjoyable three weeks capturing the settlement and “integration” of former Gurkhas and their families into the UK. I won’t go into the politics, but photographically it has been fascinating. I lit almost all images (about 300 of them) with one off-camera flash – my SB-800 and a small umbrella. I did this because every space I was in was small – whether it be a private-rented bed-sit as a 93 year old awaits a council house,
or dashing around in the local school
where the children of serving Gurkhas make up a significant number of the pupils.
I also photographed when the Department of Welfare and Pensions deciphered the Nepalese paperwork and passports, including the serviceman’s (or widow’s) record of service. Yesterday, I met an 80 year old soldier who had won a Military Medal and Bar (a double MM) who had suffered a stroke in Nepal, and was now in the UK looking for medical help, which he will now get.
At the same time, Imet the widow of an ex-Gurkha (main image) who had not qualified in time served for a normal pension, so had been getting by in Nepal on a welfare pension provided by charitable donations through the Gurkha Welfare Trust. She has decided that the UK will provide a more stable future for her in her very old age.
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