She won’t be intimidated. She doesn’t even flinch as the room fills with men in leadership positions, years her senior. Some wearing traditional Maasai warrior attire, some in suits. They take their seat in front of us. They are not accustomed to learning from a young Tanzanian woman. Their melodic languages echo in the failing classroom where we gather. Violeth is ready and here to teach...
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Glory’s husband died because he was struck by a car in the middle of the night. His body was found in the morning, decimated by wildlife. When we met Glory and her son Fredrick, the depression that surrounded them was palpable. Some tragedies are simply too much for the heart to withstand. But the woman standing before us is lighter; and though she still struggles to...
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Pale yellow kernels of corn fly like confetti, as John Anaeli pushes his thumb along the dried rows of the cob. He sits on a small wooden stool on top of a white plastic tarp with small mountains of kernels that took hours to form. One kernel hits John in the eye and a broad smile stretches across his face, as his brother, Elisante, rolls with...
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Debora’s grandmother, Bibi in Swahili, gathers water from the pipe a few hundred yards away from their home. The water is green. Not clean enough to drink or cook with, but is used to wash clothes, which Debora does several times a day. Bibi is 59 and has been the sole caregiver for Debora since she was 3 years-old as well as two of her other...
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