A Working Future
(Uganda, 2022)
A Working Future
In Tororo, in eastern Uganda near the border with Kenya, chili grows almost everywhere. Yet much of it leaves the region as spice powder bound for the British market, and the people who farm it see little of its value.
A Working Future set out to change that for young people, especially women, by offering the skills and training to grow chili and other crops and build a livelihood of their own.
We followed three young women through this work: Brenda, Anna, and Christable.
Brenda was an entrepreneur who had already built her own business. Anna was learning at her side, with the dream of expanding hers. Christable, the youngest, was only beginning her training. Their paths were different, but the weight they carried was the same: the daily struggle to put food on the table and care for their families.
They also shared a dream, to one day own the land they work. In Uganda, that right is far harder for women to secure, and it often decides whether independence is within reach or only an aspiration.
Anna (22) harvesting chili.
The AWF project has reached 24.000 youths with trainings in agribusiness.
60% of the youth are young women.
Anna in the chili fields.
Brenda (24) in the field.
Brenda at the end of the harvesting process, preparing the chili to be sold on the market.
Christable (17), together with her brother Joshua, takes care of her six siblings. Her parents passed away because of illness, leaving Christable in charge of the family. They all work in the fields in order to meet the ends, but the daily struggle to find food and ensure access to education for her youngest siblings persists. Together with her mother, Christable was enrolled in the project - A Working Future, where she learned how to grow chili and other crops. In this way she can manage to buy food and meet basic needs.
Nonetheless, it will take time before she will profit from the chili garden. When her mother passed, the grief was so strong that the garden dried out.
Christable is waiting for the rain to stop so she can start the day and work in the cassava field of a client.
Notebooks
(Senegal, 2022)
A photo essay from a field visit with Plan International Norway to Senegal. This household includes a single working mother with three children, their aunt and grandmother. Diarra is a single mother and works as a nurse. She dreams of a better future for her children.
Ensuring education is the only way for her to think of a better future for her children.
Urban beekeeping in Oslo
(Norway, 2021)
Urban beekeeping is on the rise in many cities, representing a new movement of sustainability. ByBi, a small beekeeping cooperative and honey producer works to increase biodiversity and create new homes for bees in Oslo. Ane, beekeeper and manager of ByBi, believes in the importance of bees as an essential part of our ecosystem and our role in protecting them amidst the impacts of dangerous climate change. She recognizes a young generation of beekeepers as a positive sign of change, towards more responsible behaviors and greater environmental awareness. Alongside ByBi, there are larger businesses that engage in urban beekeeping practices, after receiving trainings from ByBi. Maria, employee at PwC Norway and passionate beekeeper, often goes up to the rooftop of her company’s building in Barcode, the modern district of Oslo. She takes care of the beehives that the company installed on the rooftop as an opportunity to interact with natural environments.
