PROEXPOSURE: there is a mountain on the edge of Biera

To mark the International day of the girl and the unique challenges facing girls in Ethiopia.

By Mark Chamberlain Photographs by PROEXPOSURE

The mountain looms over this village in northern Ethiopia. 51-year-old Birihanu and her husband struggle to look at it. ‘I watched her as she walked further and further away’ says Birihanu. She stopped and sat on that mountain to look back. She waved at us. Then her arm dropped, she turned and started her journey again. I thought, “She is gone from us forever”.’

Text

Caption Text Photos by Text

Birihanu’s 19-year-old daughter, Alem left the village over a month ago. Alem a young, happy woman, but behind her warm smile, there was a person who refused to accept the status quo. She was strong, proud and ambitious. Why shouldn’t she get an education? Why shouldn’t she have a chance to make a happy life for herself?

Text

Caption Text Photos by Text

In Ethiopia, the onus is normally on the women and girls in the family to collect water and get food. Seven out of every ten girls don’t attend secondary school, which means they don’t have the skills and knowledge to support themselves.

Alem wanted something more than this. The role that women’s education plays in a society’s development was recognised in the UN’s International Bureau of Education’s report on Ethiopian education, published in 2004: Girls’ education is one of the fundamental pillars for ensuring sustainable economic development, democratic participation and poverty reduction.

Text

Caption Text Photos by Text

Alem got good scores in her exams, but they weren’t quite good enough – she got 1.9 in her exams, the required grade was 2.0. She was distraught, the chance to go to college to learn a skill, to make a better life for her family had been taken from her.

Caption Text Photos by Text

‘Alem looked for a job everywhere – even with her exam marks, she couldn’t get a job as a cleaner. ‘But there is nothing for her here. She has an education, she has ambition. But there is nothing.’

Text

Caption Text Photos by Text

That day on the mountain Alem was setting out to travel to Saudi Arabia. Migrant workers there often perform domestic or very low-skilled labour jobs. Get found out as an illegal worker in Saudi Arabia and you face immediate arrest and deportation.

Text

Caption Text Photos by Text

Migrants face abuse. Women in particular being prey to physical and sexual abuse. There is also the psychological impact: like Alem, many leave their homes in remote areas to go from a life with no electricity and a slower pace to a bustling metropolis full of noise and having to adapt to a completely new lifestyle.

Text

Caption Text Photos by Text

But the lure of migrating to find work and money to send home is too great. It’s a quick way of changing your own and your family’s life.

Text

Caption Text Photos by Text

‘She called us after a month’ says Birihanu. ‘She is alive and she is okay. She is strong. She has a plan to change her life and our lives. She wanted to work and make good money in Saudi Arabia and then come back here.’

Text

Caption Text Photos by Text

‘If I could tell her one thing’ Birihanu’s voice is quiet now, ‘I would say, “Alem, we love you, take good care of yourself. Please stay safe – we want you to come back for Ethiopian New Year.’

To find out more about PROEXPOSURE contact our friendly team on +44 (0)20 7275 8472, on twitter @PROExposure or email Louise Norton proexposure@gmail.com

Photographs by PROEXPOSURE photographers Ataklti Mulu and Alem Assefa with Annie Bungeroth, Sarah Davison and BroadArrow