Some projects are well thought, you create the project title, story board and look for your contacts to execute the project. And then there are projects that come out of your assigned assignment that end up being one of your most favorite projects. They develop into your own story projects that you keep documenting for a long period of time.

The story of Sifrash and her family is a story that I had never thought of documenting. I was sent to a health center in Maksegnit, Gondar, to document deliveries and the support provided to health centers by an organization. Sifrash was one of the mothers giving birth on the day of my assignment, but the story of her and her community quickly became a project I wanted to follow. It was a story of resilience, sisterhood, the value of being in a community, and more.

Sifrash and Mar’eshet didn’t have a steady income to raise their daughter at the time. There was already a skeleton of a shop that Mar’eshet’s family had built a long time ago, but that stayed unused in the absence of the necessary finances. With an online campaign and the family’s agreement, we successfully raised money with the contribution from my family, friends and Instagram followers to be used to build their shop. With no stores nearby, this not only helped Sifrash’s family as source of steady income, but also the community around them.

© Since 2018