Habiba Nowrose

In her collection of images, Habiba worked with Saleha, a mother of three living in the Kalyanpur settlement in Dhaka.

For Habiba, the history of her country has often been told by people from the West and being part of Women By Women was a chance to reclaim that narrative. It was vital for her to use her images to tell the stories of the people who have experienced and lived it.

When Saleha was seven years old, she lost her home to floods in Southern Bangladesh. Her family, including five siblings, became climate migrants and moved to Kalyanpur, an informal settlement in Dhaka home to thousands of displaced people.

Today, Saleha is a 37-year-old mother of three, and still lives in the Kalyanpur settlement, where she earns an income as a domestic worker. She often walks alongside a lake near to where she lives as it reminds her of her childhood home. Here she finds herbs and plants that used to grow in abundance near her home before she had to move.

In the Kalyanpur settlement, poor electrical wiring regularly causes blazes that can spread quickly through her neighbourhood. To help keep her community safe, Saleha is an active member of the Kalyanpur Firefighting Group, which is run by ActionAid Bangladesh with partner organisation Nagar Daridra Basteebashir Unnayan Sangstha. Along with the 45 members of the organisation, Saleha has received training from Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defence under a consortium project in partnership with ActionAid Bangladesh.