In January, I was in South Wollo in the Amhara region of Northern Ethiopia to photograph women for the upcoming "Women of Concern" exhibition which takes place in the Gallery of Photography in Temple bar from 4-21st March. I met Zinet on the last day of shooting. Zinet's life was already predetermined in birth. Betrothed as an infant, she was abducted and forced into an early marriage last year. Her father was arrested and accused of organising the abduction. The entire ordeal has torn a close-knit family apart.
Her father Yesuf, like many parents who marry off their daughters at a young age, was acting in the belief that marriage would secure Zinet's future. This is a real paradox given that poverty fuels child marriage, which in turn perpetuates the feminisation of poverty.
I also photographed a smiling and proud Alganesh Assefd with her herd of goats. She bought three of them through a loan scheme run by a self-help group. A year on, she has ten goats and can pay for her children's school fees and buy them clothes. Studies have shown that a woman in the developing world will reinvest 90% of their income into her family wheras a man will only reinvest 30-40%.
The self-help group is supported by Concern's local partner the WSA (Women's Support Association) There are 115 self -help groups in the region with 2340 members. The groups enable women to have a collective negotiating power, educate themselves, protect their children and become self sufficient through savings and loan schemes. "Women of Concern" is a group of Irish women who support the WSA initiative in Ethiopia and other projects in Haiti and Bangladesh.
There is an image in the exhibition of Zinet standing on a hilltop. Through the lens I could see a sadness in her eyes reflecting what had happened to her but I also saw hope which I think comes through in the image. After taking the photograph, I asked her what she would like to be when she grows up. "A Teacher" she replied.
Capturing emotion and feeling in a photograph is what has always interested me the most. Despite their harrowing experiences, the strength and dignity of the Ethiopian women that I met is testimony to the power of the human spirit. I came away thinking how I got so much more from them in those terms than I could ever give. kh
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