Baradene student a winner in international photo competition

Rachita Castelino will travel to Ethiopia for a photographic workshop. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Auckland teenager Rachita Castelino has been chosen as one of the winners of an international photographic competition.

The 15-year-old, who attends Baradene College, submitted a photo she took as part of a competition run by Unicef and the World Photography Organisation.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child, entrants had to send in a photo which highlighted a child's fundamental right.

Rachita's photo, entitled Selling for Survival, shows a young boy on the streets of Mumbai attempting to trade whatever he has, seemingly unnoticed by passersby.

Other winners focused on a child's right to be protected, to receive healthcare, to be educated and the right to be heard.

Rachita was unable to travel to Cannes for the awards ceremony due to travel disruption from Iceland's volcano but will join five other youngsters - from Romania, Morocco, Israel, Brazil and the United States - on a trip to Ethiopia where they will be given tips from some of the world's leading photographers.