Mibila Mothers

For the last five years I have been documenting the progress of Mibila Village Clinic, which is located deep in rural Zambia. The clinic was the vision of a friend of mine and was built in 2005 by a team of UK volunteers and local villagers.

The clinic provides pre- and post-natal care, immunisations for children, mosquito nets to help prevent malaria, education programmes and a wide range of other health services. Over 5000 patients now use this clinic.

These portraits are some of the mothers of Mibila. It would have been very easy to take photos showing how poor and vulnerable these women are. But to me the more accurate portrait shows their strength and dignity. They are not looking for a handout, but a leg-up. Given access to the basic medical resources we take for granted, they now have a fighting chance of seeing their children become adults.

Over the last few years many of the villagers have become my friends and I’ve seen their newborns grow into healthy children. Much of this has been made possible by my friends and family who make generous and ongoing donations to the clinic.

This series was displayed as part of the Art House Exhibition at the Hot Tap Theatre and Warehouse during September.