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My first visit to Bangladesh took place during November 1985. I had been assigned to join a BBC TV crew headed by veteran journalist and producer, Desmond Wilcox. Wilcox was making a documentary on Pat Kerr’s efforts to highlight the plight of orphaned children in Bangladesh’s teeming capital, Dhaka and I, in my capacity as a staff photographer for a national Sunday newspaper had been chosen by my editor to illustrate proposed features to accompany and promote the forthcoming TV program.

The assignment was a complete success for everyone concerned but the visit had a profound effect on me. Although I had travelled extensively as a press photographer I was shocked at the dire conditions that so many people, especially the children, were forced to live in. I decided that something should be done to show the world what was happening. The best way I could achieve this was to utilize my skills as a photographer. Therefore in 1986 I returned in a freelance capacity to capture on film the lives of the children living at the Indira Road orphanage.

Once again the assignment was successful and with the aid of my images I set about showing the stark reality of living conditions for so many innocent abandoned and orphaned children. I secured newspaper and magazine coverage and also donated the use of many of my images to help raise funds and awareness. An added bonus was receiving the Photographer of the Year award for a portfolio of images from Indira Road.

For almost 25 years I have visited Bangladesh on a regular basis to document the lives of the children and volunteers. The Families for Children orphanage as it was then was relocated to Sreepur, which I first visited as a green field site reached via a tortuous drive through rice paddies and under large mango trees.

In 1989 just prior to the official opening of the Sreepur Village I visited again to photograph Pat Kerr putting the final touches to the ceremony and in 2009, in the apparent blink of an eye I was photographing Pat once again overseeing the preparations for the 20th anniversary celebrations.

During those 20 years I have made many visits. Probably the most satisfying was in 1996 when I decided to trace and photograph many of the children that I had photographed 10 years previously. It was a daunting task but resulted in a major exhibition that appeared in London’s West End, the NEC Birmingham and as a touring exhibition in many of British Airways executive lounges throughout the world.

In November 2010 it will be 25 years since I took a short ride from the Sheraton Hotel, Dhaka and entered through the rickety metal gates of the Families for Children orphanage in the dusty backstreets of the Bangladesh capital. A book is planned to coincide with this auspicious occasion and will feature my thoughts and experiences and many of my most memorable images. To accompany the book launch an exhibition of fine art photographs are been prepared which is planned to take place on the Costa del Sol, where I now live.

The Sreepur Village is a testament to the efforts of Pat Kerr, her friends and colleagues and the donors and trustees who have persistently struggled to improve the lives of orphaned and abandoned children and destitute and abused women for more than 25 years. Despite the incredible improvements that I have witnessed over the years the struggle continues and funds are still needed to maintain the momentum. I trust my contribution as a photographer has helped in some small way, but when in doubt of an individual’s worth I am reminded of a quote by Edmund Burke the 18th century philosopher, which was shown to me by Pat Kerr many years ago.

“No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.”

For more information about Ian's work and to see a portfolio visit > www.ianspratt.com