Nancy McGirr was once one of the world’s top war photographers. She covered a string of major conflicts until, sickened by the level of political violence, she decided to do something different. Now she runs a charity dedicated to helping the poorest children of Guatemala. Her project, ‘Out of the Dump’, provides children with a camera and photography lessons, as well as a full scholarship. Over the past 14 years, she has turned around dozens of young lives. “It’s not just about teaching kids photography,” she explains “What you’re actually doing is opening a door, letting them see that there are other opportunities.” One of the students in her first class was Evelyn. When Nancy met her, she was ten years old and spent her days searching the dump for food and toys. Now she is studying at university and working as a teacher. “It changed my life drastically and was a big turning point in my life,” she enthuses. Now there are over 150 children studying at the project’s six centres. Work produced by the children is exhibited around the world to great acclaim. But best of all students like Evelyn, who have beaten all odds to succeed, have became role models to current students proving that, they too, can escape the rubbish dumps.