BEHIND EVERY SMILE
Pictures, poems and thoughts inspired by experiences of working with street children
By Ashley Coggins. Authentic Media. 116 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978-1-860-2471-7
Since 2001, Ashley Coggins and his wife Christine have devoted themselves to working with vulnerable street children in south-east Asia. Many of these children are orphans, as a result of wars and political upheavals, or may have been rejected by their families and left to survive on the streets as scavengers.
This is an evocative and often moving collection of poems and photographs, presented as a book to dip into and to meditate on. Many images show the charm and resilience of these innocent victims caught up in the most tragic circumstances — some, for example, sniffing glue to allay their desperate hunger pangs. The Coggins’s love for these children shines through, as the book opens up a world of poverty which would be unthinkable in our own country — but also the possibility of rescue, safety, and the hope of a changed life.
