Quotes

"Repeat after me 'I will not waste my life, I will apply for ST Martins" 

"I forbid you to go"

"If you go, you'll have to find somewhere else to live."

"I cant collude with something I think will damage you"

"And I'm not exactly an advert for global travel, am I ? "

"Its not a fucking holiday, Alex, its a massive fucking life-changing fucking decision"

simon

Simon has turned up and reined everything. Before he turned up Alex and I where fine. He is trying to turn Alex against me, by making up some crap about me constructing the Rwanda genocide photo.  I hate him and I don't want him in my house any longer. He's not welcome but Alex is desperate for him to stay. Alex believes everything he says, but it's all crap. She is worshiping him like he's a bloody god !

He has no right to march into our lives and unsettle things. Alex has never questioned her relationship with me or Meg, Meg is her mum and I'm her dad. Simple. But Simon thinks he has the right to tell her we aren't her parents.

 He's a liar, he's a lying prick and I want him out of my life.

The Rwanda Genoside

• Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days.
• Although the Tutsi constituted only about ten percent of Rwanda's population and the Hutu nearly 90 percent, the Tutsi  where in a leadership positions. This upset the Hutu.
• The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6 April 1994.
• once the genocide was underway a great number of Hutu civilians took part in the murders.
• Although it has never been determined who was truly responsible for the assassination, Hutu extremists profited the most from Habyarimana's death. Within 24 hours after the crash, Hutu extremists had taken over the government, blamed the Tutsis for the assassination, and begun the slaughter.

Introduction

.

My name is Joseph Potter and am 50 years old. I live in Hampstead with my daughter Alex. My wife has passed away, so I am a signal parent.I am a war photographer. I am doing a exhibition of my work in a few weeks. I hope to continue my photography for as long as I can.

Meg

I miss Meg so much. The worst part is how lonely I feel. Alex has been away at Uni and now shes back, the first thing she tells me is she wants to go off to Rwanda. I'm not sure I can stand to be in this house alone much longer. I have tried to keep busy ,with the wedding photography and now my exhibition. But I can't escape the feeling that Meg should be here with me. 

Its hard parenting Alex on my own. Meg used to be so good with her and always knew what to do. I feel like I have been thrown into the deep end of a pool, without being taught to swim. I am trying to be a good dad to Alex, but its so difficult without Meg. 

I visit her grave as often as I can. I want to go with Alex whilst she is here, but I'm not sure how Alex will feel about this. She rarely talks about her mum and doesn't like me trying to talk to her about how she feels and to be honest I find it just as hard. 

I miss you so much meg. I wish you where here. 

My exhibtion

I've decided to do the war photography exhibition, on the condition that Alex goes back to uni. Alex is so exited for me and has been sorting through all my photos. Its lovely to see her smiling again. She has had to deal with so much recently. First her mum dies, then she meets the brother she didn't know she had.

Although I was reluctant at first, I am getting very exited about the exhibition. I also know how much Meg would have wanted me to do it. looking at the photos bring back so many memories, good and bad, from when I used to travel.

I went to visit the space my exhibition will be in today. It is huge and I am worried that I don't actually have enough decent photos to fill it! Although Alex does keep bringing box after box of photos down from the loft, some that I didn't even know I still had !



here's the space...

Alex came home !

Alex came home today. It was amazing to see her because I haven’t seen her for six months! I will admit I have been very lonely here without Alex or my wife Meg. The moment she stepped through the door I knew something was up. She kept avoiding the questions I asked her about Kings. But Alex can never get anything past me, I know her to well.

After a lot of talking I finally got it out of her that she had dropped out of kings. I was devastated to hear that she was throwing her life away like this! How could she drop out after working so hard for a place?

She said she felt out of place. She told me about this man coming up to her in the bar she worked at. He stared to touch her hair, and then told her he had never seen a black person before. If I ever see this guy I swear to god I will bust his face in! What a prick.

I’m going to have to persuade Alex to go back. It will be a hell of a job because she’s so stubborn, a bit like Meg!   I won’t let this go though. I want the best for her, I really do.