AFGHANISTAN
First time students, life-long lessons
As years pass and restrictions on girls’ education in Afghanistan tighten, many have grown older but fallen further and further behind in their education, often making regular primary school an impossibility.
But three teenage girls - Sakina, Raihana and Fahima - are reclaiming lost years of learning, pursuing a primary education that was once out of reach.
Photos by Mark Naftalin of VN Films.
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Bringing health care home
Once a month, Sakina’s home comes alive. Women fill her living room, clustered together on floor cushions and carpets. They giggle, converse, cook a meal and share parenting tips.
But these rendezvous are no social affair. As a seasoned Community Health Worker, Sakina presides over these sessions, forming a critical link between rural community health care and the formal health care system.
“I felt my sister’s hand beside me”
Gulaba was jolted awake to the weight of her whole house on her little body. Just a few hours previous, she had slept peacefully, curled up next to her 10-year-old sister, Mah Gul.
But that night, an earthquake shook her village. For hours, Gulaba was trapped under mud, wood beams, and bricks. When she emerged, her young heart faced even more devastation.
Faces of the floods
When the darkening sky turned to rain and then a river where it shouldn’t be, 8-year-old Deen Mohammed was struck with terror. One moment he was sitting with his family, his younger brother playing happily outside, and the next he was struggling to breathe as water rushed over his head.
“The water came, and our family rushed to use the ladder and get on the roof. We were holding the Holy Quran and praying as we cried for our lives. The flood took our whole home and everything we had.”
Breaking outside the boundaries of the home
Shy, but lively when you probe her, 20-year-old Binazer is elated that she has new skills to show off and forge a path for herself. With 15 classmates, she has just completed a tailoring course, excited to start a business and earn an income of her own - something she never thought possible.
“When I first began this program, I did not know anything about tailoring, but now I can do anything for my clients. Listen, I will even explain it to you!”
Devastated and dispirited
As the academic year began once more in Afghanistan, girls hoped to return to class with their brothers. But for the second year in a row, secondary schools remained closed to them.
Arezo would have been in grade 11 - her penultimate year. But now her heart is heavy with crushed dreams. "From morning to evening, I just do chores. I only have books from previous school years which I try to study at home."
One year on, three brighter smiles
A lot changed in the year after Gulaba, Naghma and Kefayat lost their homes and possessions in a deadly earthquake.
Hours spent fetching water gave way to time with family. Feelings of isolation were abandoned for happy new friendships. Days spent languishing at home became joyful, filled with curiosity and discovery.
RWANDA
For the first time in his life, David stood up.
It was almost like the emerald green of their tiny knit sweaters was carefully chosen to match the sprawling tea plantations around the day care centre. Exuberant and impatient, the children bounce up and down, eager for their morning milk box, distributed each day to promote healthy growth.
But amidst the excitement, one child sits conspicuously still, a bit quieter than the rest as he sips his milk…
Originally published in RwandAir’s “Inzozi” in-flight magazine.
Photos by Isaac Rudakubana of Step One Pictures.
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Nurturing hope for a better future
At 23, Celine has already overcome more challenges than many face in a lifetime. When she was in high school, she became pregnant when a man tricked her into drinking alcohol and assaulted her.
But at a community meeting, she met Isaac - a youth volunteer - who showed her how to get tested for HIV, and talked with her about what she’d been through.
“I finally found the confidence to share my story with others my age.”
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From the forest to first in his class
Marcel told me he had dropped out of primary school, wanting to help his parents by earning some money. But unbeknownst to them, he had vanished into the forest to herd cows, where some men promised to pay him $10 per month.
“But where did you sleep?” I asked. “With the cows,” Marcel said pragmatically.
“Marcel always received excellent marks,” his teacher told me. “He really needed to come back to school.”
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Overcoming a disability, Hodari learns to read
Hodari sits with his 50 classmates, each one trying to command the teacher’s attention. Amidst the bouncing children, the teacher picks Hodari out of the crowd.
“Hodari, please read the vocabulary card.” Without hesitation, he stood up and faced his classmates.
Hodari was not always able to read so well, or at all. Born with an intellectual disability, Hodari only began to read a couple of years ago. He is 14 now.
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Meet Donata: Lead civil engineer
Standing stoic among her fellow masons and civil engineers on a sunny day, Donata watches her employees pour a new layer of cement. She does not speak often, but she is clearly in charge of the construction bustling around her.
"Construction has an essential role in Rwanda’s development, and women are indispensable participants. “In Kinyarwanda, we have a proverb: ‘gushaka ni ugushobora.’ It means if you put energy into making something happen, it will..”
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Born too early: Rwanda's smallest babies
In the calm of her hospital room, Jemimah sits relaxed as she holds her babies against her bare chest. Jemimah’s twins were born premature, weighing less than two kilograms at birth. Premature babies are more likely to have chronic health issues and may require hospital care.
“The doctors taught us to hold our babies like this,” she says, gesturing gently at the tiny bundles wrapped tightly to her chest. “When they feel the mother’s skin and warmth, they sleep better.”
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Building happier families in the tea industry
Everyone loves a hot cup of tea. Maybe some milk, a little honey. But do you know the faces of those who bring tea to your cup?
In Rwanda, where tea is among the top cash exports, most tea plantation workers are young women. Some are pregnant, breastfeeding, or are imminent mothers. But since the plantations are not safe for children, mothers cannot bring them to work to breastfeed or ensure they receive well-balanced meals.