Sobha Kumari – Health Promoter of Surya Health Centers in Bihar, India

Sobha Kumari, a Surya Health Promoter in Bihar, India Above: Sobha goes door-to-door promoting Surya health clinics and their services. When Sobha Kumari started as a Surya health promoter in 2009, virtually everyone one in her village disapproved of her work. Women were not allowed to talk to her. Only women with “problems” would come to […]

Olawunmi Adeyemo – A Makeup Artist and Salon owner in Nigeria

Olawunmi Adeyemo, a Makeup Artist & Salon Owner in Nigeria Above: Olawunmi in front of her salon Ola-Boss in Balogun, Ikeja, where she sells cosmetics and weaves. When Olawunmi Adeyemo and her husband got married, they decided they wanted two children. For a while, everything went according to plan. Six years ago, they had their first child. […]

Zulekha Baloch – a community midwife in Pakistan

Zulekha Baloch, a Community Midwife in Pakistan Above: Zulekha in her Dhanak clinic, where she serves her community in Pakistan with multiple contraceptive options. The story of the indefatigable Zulekha Baloch is a case study in perseverance. Since she was a child, Zulekha nurtured a dream of working in health despite unending obstacles. The first hurdle was […]

Vikash & Ragini Kumar – a motorcycle mechanic and housewife in India

Vikash & Ragini Kumar – a motorcycle mechanic and housewife in India Above: Vikash (left), Ragini (right), and their two children (center) have their photo taken outside one of DKT Janani’s Surya Clinics When Vikash and Ragini Kumari got married in 2013, they decided they wanted just two children, no more. Their plan was implemented flawlessly, thanks […]

Odogwu Anene Nkemdilim – a Grocery Seller in Nigeria

Odogwu Anene Nkemdilim, a Grocery Seller in Nigeria Above: Odogwu Anene Nkemdilim runs a small grocery store and opted for an IUD to take control over her reproductive and professional life. When they got married, Odogwu Anene Nkemdilim and her husband decided they would space their children five years apart. But after getting pregnant the second […]

Ruqia Younas – A community midwife in Pakistan

Ruqia Younas, a Community Midwife in Pakistan Above: Ruqia Younas treats a young patient in her Dhanak clinic in Bhattiwala, Pakistan. Ruqia Younas earned her diploma in midwifery in 2011, excited to put her new skills to work and help the women and children of her village in Punjab Province, central Pakistan. But Ruqia didn’t have the resources […]

Rani Devi, A Surya Health Promoter in India

Rani Devi, A Surya Health Promoter in India Above: Rani Devi, a Surya Health Promoter, talks to young women in her community about the benefits of family planning and is now seen as a reliable expert in sexual and reproductive health.  Her parents forced Rani Devi to drop out of school and marry when she […]

Temitope Adebayo – A tailor’s apprentice in Nigeria

Temitope Adebayo, a Tailor’s Apprentice in Nigeria Above: Temitope Adebyo, an aspiring fashion designer, doing her chores at home in Makoko of Lagos. 13 July, 2020 (Lagos, Nigeria) “I love to wash clothes,” says Temitope. “If I start washing now, I can do it from morning to night.” Temitope Adebayo, a young single mother living […]