Esther Mbabazi | 2020 | Women By Women

Esther Mbabzi first appeared in the Women By Women 2020 exhibition, which featured a collection about women at the Kawaala Health Centre IV in Kampala, Uganda.

For her, the exhibition was a way of giving women the opportunity to feel part of their own stories and telling the stories of her people from her own perspective.

Asiah experienced years of domestic violence while raising her four children in the Wakiso district of Uganda. After seeking support from ActionAid in 2013, she has accessed counselling, legal support and training in financial independence.

Now, she earns a living as a hairdresser and has opened her own salon where she trains other women to learn new skills. She also runs a shop, sells firewood, rears chickens and makes bricks for the construction of houses.

Cossy sought support from the Makerere Women’s Development Association after her husband died. She had survived years of domestic abuse when he was alive after medical tests showed they were both HIV positive.

At the organisation, she was treated and accessed training in hairdressing. She also received a grant of 200,000 Ugandan Shillings (£40) to start her own business. With that money, Cossy opened a salon, which she has been operating for 16 years. Every Saturday, Cossy also invites women to weave baskets and sell them at her shop.

Margaret Kasolo is a nurse at the Kawaala Health Centre IV in Uganda. She has been a midwife there for 35 years and has worked with ActionAid since 2013 as a gender-based violence focal person at the hospital. Margaret links women and girls in need of help with ActionAid-supported shelters and uses her work to help them rebuild their lives after experiencing violence. Margaret says she was inspired to become a midwife as her mother was also a midwife, and she wanted to earn an income and provide for her family like she did.

After surviving violence, Nabuule found support from ActionAid’s partner, Tusitukirewamu, which translates to ‘Let's rise together’. At the foundation, she learned how to make reusable sanitary pads, which she sells at affordable prices to women and girls in rural areas, who often don’t have access to sanitary products. Nabuule is also a counsellor for women and girls living with HIV in Kampala, where she grew up.

Discover the stories of inspirational women and the talent of women photographers in our previous Women By Women exhibitions.