Collaboration on an international exhibition
Case Study: CARE Germany
Brief
The circumstances in which children are born vary greatly around the world, and midwives play a key role in this.
CARE Germany approached Fairpicture to work with visual creators from our network to follow and portray midwives in Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Cambodia and Ukraine to promote understanding of the importance of midwives to pregnant women, newborns and families from pregnancy to birth and the postnatal period.
The aim was to develop a website feature and a photo exhibition in Berlin where CARE Germany would showcase these portraits to inform and encourage participation.
Client
CARE Germany
Visual Creator
Katya Moskalyuk Keren Lasme Narin Saobo
Theme
Midwives worldwide
Location
Dobroslav (UKR) Béoumi (CDI) Ratanakiri (CAM) Terego (UGA)
Date
August 2023
Chiev (left) has got a mission to check-up at Kak Villager Talav commune. Romam (right) just came back from her farm nearby the village.
Photo: Narin Saobora / CARE Germany / Fairpicture
Context
Midwives are an essential part of a safe birth. They provide expectant mothers with medical support, stability and security. They support them before, during and after the birth. They are often more than just medical staff; midwives are caregivers, educators and confidants.
At the same time there is a shortage of around 900,000 midwives worldwide to meet existing needs. In a new specialist study, CARE uses the example of midwives from this project to show how they, as agents of change, compensate for resource-poor and sometimes dysfunctional systems on a daily basis through their personal commitment.
The stories portray midwives from Côte d'Ivoire, Cambodia, Uganda & Ukraine (with visual creators from Fairpicture) as well as from Iraq and Germany. Six women, six countries, six places where life begins. Each of the six women has her own personal story. What unites the women is their love for their profession and their motivation to support mothers and children during childbirth.
Natalia has been working as a midwife in Dobroslaw (Ukraine) for over 25 years. "The escalation of the war has changed a lot. It was difficult at the beginning, but now we don't lack anything in the hospital. But it is still difficult when there is an air raid. We actually have to go to the shelter, but that's not possible during a birth.
Photo: Katya Moskalyuk / CARE Germany / Fairpicture
The birth of a child and the work of a midwife take place in a "protected" space that is usually inaccessible to the general public. This space, the rules and customs here are sensitive and at the same time different all over the world. It was therefore essential for us to have the expectant mothers, women and midwives portrayed by local photographers. This process was time-consuming, but was rewarded with very impressive photographs.
Stefan Brand
Media officer
CARE Germany
Munguci works in the "Rhino Camp" refugee settlement in Uganda. Alongside Ugandans, it is mainly refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and South Sudan who live there. Munguci provides information about family planning, works in the operating theater, administers vaccinations and takes care of pre- and postnatal care for mothers and children. She often looks after three to four women at the same time during childbirth, even at night. Nevertheless, she can't imagine working anywhere else. "I'm needed here, I know how important my work is."
Photo: Nyokabi Kahura / CARE Germany / Fairpicture
Six women, six countries, six places where life begins. From Germany to Iraq, Cambodia and Ukraine to Uganda and Côte d'Ivoire. This video shows impressively the circumstances under which the women work, the obstacles they face and how much passion they bring to their profession.
Video: CARE Germany with footage of Katya Moskalyuk, Keren Lasme, Narin Saobora and Nyokabi Kahura among others
These image shows Diomande's daily activities in Fari-M'babo. The consultations start early in the morning as the center can be quite packed with mothers and children waiting to be received. Some of the activities include vaccinations, sexual education sessions, contraception administration, creating patients files, birthing or taking care of a mother who is ill or sometime advising a soon-to-be mother who has worries.
Photo: Keren Lasme / CARE Germany / Fairpicture
This was a project that shows the full potential of Fairpicture: To work simultaneously on a common theme in different places around the world and then bring it together. It's great when the end result is such an impressive exhibition!
Daniela Hächler
Project Manager
Fairpicture, Switzerland
Screenshot of the website feature “Committed to Life – Midwives Worldwide”of CARE Germany.
Outcome
The exhibition "Committed to life - midwives worldwide" was presented for the first time on November 15, 2023 at the Alte Münze, Berlin. Besides CARE Germany created an elaborated multimedia section on their website with the stories and visual material of the midwives taken by the four visual creators of Fairpicture. The photographs, video interviews and written stories impressively show the circumstances under which the women work, the obstacles they face and how much passion they bring to their profession - their vocation.
It was an honour for Fairpicture to contribute the visual material for this important topic through its dedicated network of visual creators and to work closely with CARE Germany on the impressive outcome.
Photos from the exhibition opening ceremony in Berlin on November 15, 2023. The exhibition is currently touring Germany.
Next stops of the exhibition:
- Until January 7, 2024 at the Parent-Child Center of the University Hospital Bonn
- From January 15 to 29 in the premises of the Postcode Lottery in Düsseldorf (semi-public)
- From January 30 to February 28, 2024 in the entrance hall of the Central Hospital of the University Hospital Cologne
- From March 28 at the University Hospital Göttingen until mid-April
Photos: CARE Germany
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