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African Reflections Foundation — non-profit organization 501(c)(3)

Photographic essay

Women of Mkuranga

Portraits from The Village Heart archive, made in the district where African Reflections Foundation has worked longest.

These are the people the work was always for.

The series documents women encountered through the Foundation's work across the Mkuranga district — at water points, in fields, at village meetings, and at home.

Most are not individually named in the publication, and we have not guessed. Where a name is not recorded, the caption says only what is known: a woman in Mkuranga, photographed for The Village Heart.

Women gathered together at a village meeting in Mkuranga.
Women gathered together at a village meeting in Mkuranga. · page 137
  • Portrait of a woman in a green headscarf in Mkuranga, from The Village Heart photographic archive.
    Page 138
  • Portrait of a woman carrying a load on her head, in Mkuranga.
    Page 139
  • Portrait of an elderly woman in a blue and orange headscarf, in Mkuranga.
    Page 140
  • Portrait of a woman in a pink patterned headscarf, in Mkuranga.
    Page 141
Women holding young children, photographed in Mkuranga.
Women holding young children, photographed in Mkuranga. · page 142
  • Women seated together against an earthen wall in a Mkuranga village.
    Page 143
  • Portrait of an older woman in a pink headscarf, in Mkuranga.
    Page 144
  • A mother holding her baby, photographed in Mkuranga.
    Page 145
  • Portrait of a woman in a bright blue headscarf, in Mkuranga.
    Page 145
A woman carrying her baby in a sling, standing in her village.
A woman carrying her baby in a sling, standing in her village. · page 146
  • Portrait of a woman in a yellow headscarf among a group, in Mkuranga.
    Page 146
  • A woman in brightly patterned cloth standing beside a tree, in Mkuranga.
    Page 147
  • Portrait of a woman in a bright yellow headscarf, in Mkuranga.
    Page 147
  • Two women with a young child outside a village building, in Mkuranga.
    Page 148
A woman working in the doorway of a village building, in Mkuranga.
A woman working in the doorway of a village building, in Mkuranga. · page 149
  • Two women standing together, photographed in Mkuranga.
    Page 150
  • A mother holding her baby, wrapped in brightly patterned cloth, in Mkuranga.
    Page 150

“I wanted to provide a glimpse into the lives of the women in these villages and give an insight on how people in rural Tanzania really live.”

Maryvonne Pool · The Village Heart, 2016

Women remain at the centre of the Foundation's work — farming groups, market access, savings and household income.

Women's empowerment today