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  • MADHOPUR, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Villagers watch as a group of girls study under the thatch roof of an open hut at the Kishori Kendra Madhopur  in a village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • BIHAR, INDIA: AUGUST 13: Villagers cross a river to get to Lalita's village after  she made a visit to her village of Koprah,  60 kilometers from Sitamarhi in northern Bihar, India August 13, 2003. Lalita was visiting after an eight month training course at a MSK and 4 months of teaching karate in another district in Bihar. She has overcome great barriers in a society that regards her as the most disadvantaged since she is a female in one of  the lowest castes in India, the "Musahar "caste which means rat eaters. This tenacious young woman attended,  Mahila Shikshan Kendra, a Women's Education Center,  depsite her father's protests and learned how to read, write and defend herself in a community which frequently abuses women. Now she is teaching karate to other young women in a MSK in Amos block. Bihar is the poorest state in India and women suffer  greatly because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. Most of the girls who are attending the eight month course have had to overcome tremendous resistance from families and a society entrenched in the  weight of a caste system which discourages those from the lower castes to be educated, especially women. The 10 centers with 40 students in each are being funded by the World Bank although it was initially started by Unicef . .(Ami Vitale)
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  • EKANGERSERAI, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Indian children leave Middle School Ekangerserai school after monsoon rains flood their classrooms in a village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Children carry water for their teacher, Ouedraoga Madi in Zigberi, in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 24, 2007. The village had no school and after years of waiting the parents decided to build their own school, desperate to get an education for their children.  Female education in Burkina Faso and West Africa is particularly difficult given the demands placed on the women and girls in society to do all of the household work like pounding the millet, preparing food, getting wood and water which is sparce and often kilometers away.  Ami Vitale
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  • BIHAR, INDIA: AUGUST 14: Lalita'gathers water at a pump in her village of Koprah,  60 kilometers from Sitamarhi in northern Bihar, India August 14, 2003. She was visiting after an eight month training course at a MSK and 4 months of teaching karate in another district in Bihar. She has overcome great barriers in a society that regards her as the most disadvantaged since she is a female in one of  the lowest castes in India, the "Musahar "caste which means rat eaters. This tenacious young woman attended,  Mahila Shikshan Kendra, a Women's Education Center,  depsite her father's protests and learned how to read, write and defend herself in a community which frequently abuses women. Now she is teaching karate to other young women in a MSK in Amos block. Bihar is the poorest state in India and women suffer  greatly because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. Most of the girls who are attending the eight month course have had to overcome tremendous resistance from families and a society entrenched in the  weight of a caste system which discourages those from the lower castes to be educated, especially women. The 10 centers with 40 students in each are being funded by the World Bank although it was initially started by Unicef . .(Ami Vitale)
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  • EKANGERSERAI, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Indian children leave Middle School Ekangerserai school after monsoon rains flood their classrooms in a village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Muslim children sit inside Dariya Khan Ghhumnat Rahat refugee camp set up outside a school in the state of Gujarat in Ahmedabad, India, May 10, 2002. The extent of the damage and displacement of more than 120,000 people has threatened the secular ideals of India and left the government under attack for its inadequate relief arrangements.
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  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
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  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
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  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
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  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
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  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
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  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
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  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
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  • Maasai pastoralists collect water at one of the few sources in Endulen, outside of the pristine Ngornogoro Crater in Tanzania, October 4, 2003.  The Maasai were thrown out of the Crater in 1972 in the name of conservation and are being threatened again with further land loss under a torrent of new legislation. Like other indigenous people the world over, they continue to be evicted from their land in the name of tourism and conservation. They have lived on these lands for centuries but now struggle to survive on their borders, especially in the difficult drought years. Though they were able to live in harmony with the wildlife for centuries, the places with rich water sources are now preserved for tourists.  Eco-tourism, the government solution to chronic poverty, brings in vast revenues but sadly, the dispossessed Maasai are not allowed to benefit. Only a handful, mostly foreign owned tourist operators profit and only a tiny portion of the money actually filters through to the local economy.
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  • Villagers of Zigberi get water from the only pump well that offers clean water for miles in a remote part of Burkina Faso in the desert region near the Malian border March 28, 2007.  Water is  precious commodity here and most families end up drinking dirty water rather than walk the miles it takes to get to the well. Ami Vitale
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  • The signs of changing times are evident as Maasai children relax with a game of football as their elders walk by cloaked in traditional clothing during lunch break at the Endulen Primary school in Ngornogoro District in Tanzania September 29, 2003.  Most Maasai now see the value of sending their children to school so they can have a voice in the government to protect themselves with increasing land loss. The Maasai were thrown out of the Crater in 1972 in the name of conservation and are being threatened again  under a torrent of new legislation. Like other indigenous people the world over, they continue to be evicted from their land in the name of tourism and conservation. They have lived on these lands for centuries but now struggle to survive on their borders, especially in the difficult drought years. Though they were able to live in harmony with the wildlife for centuries, the places with rich water sources are now preserved for tourists.  Eco-tourism, the government solution to chronic poverty, brings in vast revenues but sadly, the dispossessed Maasai are not allowed to benefit. Only a handful, mostly foreign owned tourist operators profit and only a tiny portion of the money actually filters through to the local economy.
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  • Nisha Rathad, 20, covers her face and giggles as she stands in front of the Hindu Aryan symbol painted on her home March 2, 2002 in Ahmedabad, India. Her Muslim neighbor had been killed a few feet away from her home the day before. These symbols were painted on most Hindus homes to protect them from the religious violence that swept through this region and killed over three hundred people in three days, the worst communal bloodshed in a decade.
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  • Shah Jaha Kabir Ali Shaikh, 18, who was burned by mobs of Hindu rioters on February 28, recovers inside a refugee camp inside a mosque in Ahmedabad, India, May 12, 2002. Thousands of people who fled their homes are still living in squalid conditions since a wave of revenge killings and clashes erupted in late February.
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  • Girls gather water in the village of Nkonkwa, on Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania August 25, 2011. Ami Vitale
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  • Women study at the Abul Qasim Fierdousi Girls secondary school  in Kabul, Afghanistan  August  08, 2002.    (photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Women study at the Abul Qasim Fierdousi Girls secondary school  in Kabul, Afghanistan  August  08, 2002.    (photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Women study at the Abul Qasim Fierdousi Girls secondary school  in Kabul, Afghanistan  August  08, 2002.    (photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • ANBAR SOMUCH, AFGHANISTAN, AUGUST 1, 2002:Girls learn sewing in a school that was rebuilt in the village of Anbar Somuch,  Afghanistan, August 1, 2002. More than 100 families have returned to their village after the fall of the Taliban and they are rushing to rebuild their homes before the brutal winter sets in. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • ANBAR SOMUCH, AFGHANISTAN, AUGUST 1, 2002:Girls learn sewing in a school that was rebuilt in the village of Anbar Somuch,  Afghanistan, August 1, 2002. More than 100 families have returned to their village after the fall of the Taliban and they are rushing to rebuild their homes before the brutal winter sets in. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • ANBAR SOMUCH, AFGHANISTAN, AUGUST 1, 2002:Girls learn sewing in a school that was rebuilt in the village of Anbar Somuch,  Afghanistan, August 1, 2002. More than 100 families have returned to their village after the fall of the Taliban and they are rushing to rebuild their homes before the brutal winter sets in. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Soil preparation for growing rice is labor intensive. Girls work in the fields with hand hoes because there are no tractors or machinery in this remote village.
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  • ive year-old Awa Balde clings to her mother moments after she was circumcised. The age at which girls are subjected to this ranges from when they are very small babies to young adulthood.
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  • Gowindra, 19, has the "thali" a necklance symbolizing her marriage tied around her neck by her husband during the wedding in Nagapattinum district in Tamil Nadu, India  eight months since the deadly tsunami killed thousands August  29, 2005. Both she and her husband's family both lost relatives, their homes and livelihoods in the wave and must live in the temporary shelters after the ceremony. Hundreds of "tsunami weddings" have taken place since December as families received huge amounts of money for their deceased relatives and wished to make allegiances with other families who received money. In India, the girls family must pay a dowry and Gowindra had to pay a staggering 200,000 rupees, nearly $5000 in a community that survives off an average $1 per day. Elaborate and ostentatious wedding functions have become normal fare for those victims of the tsunami who suddenly were given the huge sums of money and alcohol sales have jumped 300 percent.  The recovery process is slow and the situation still grim for many of the worlds poorest who were most affected by the deadly wave.  (Ami Vitale)
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  • Girls come back from carrying water form Lake Tanganyika to their village of Nkonkwa, on Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania.
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  • Afghan girls wait to be visited by a doctor  at the Rabia Balkhi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 4, 2002. Afghanistan has a shortage of female doctors whihc makes women and children even more vulnerable. (Photo  by Ami Vitale)
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  • Women study at the Abul Qasim Fierdousi Girls secondary school  in Kabul, Afghanistan  August  08, 2002.    (photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • ANBAR SOMUCH, AFGHANISTAN, AUGUST 1, 2002:Girls learn sewing in a school that was rebuilt in the village of Anbar Somuch,  Afghanistan, August 1, 2002. More than 100 families have returned to their village after the fall of the Taliban and they are rushing to rebuild their homes before the brutal winter sets in. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • ANBAR SOMUCH, AFGHANISTAN, AUGUST 1, 2002:Girls learn sewing in a school that was rebuilt in the village of Anbar Somuch,  Afghanistan, August 1, 2002. More than 100 families have returned to their village after the fall of the Taliban and they are rushing to rebuild their homes before the brutal winter sets in. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • ANBAR SOMUCH, AFGHANISTAN, AUGUST 1, 2002:Girls learn sewing in a school that was rebuilt in the village of Anbar Somuch,  Afghanistan, August 1, 2002. More than 100 families have returned to their village after the fall of the Taliban and they are rushing to rebuild their homes before the brutal winter sets in. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • KASHMIR,INDIA: Kashmiri girls gather water from a stream in Anantnag district of Kashmir, about 60 kilometers from Srinagar, the Indian held summer capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
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  • Gowindra, 19, prepares for her wedding in Nagapattinum district in Tamil Nadu, India  eight months since the deadly tsunami killed thousands August  29, 2005. Both she and her husband's family both lost relatives, their homes and livelihoods in the wave and must live in the temporary shelters after the ceremony. Hundreds of "tsunami weddings" have taken place since December as families received huge amounts of money for their deceased relatives and wished to make allegiances with other families who received money. In India, the girls family must pay a dowry and Gowindra had to pay a staggering 200,000 rupees, nealry $5000 in a community that survives off an average $1 per day.  The recovery process is slow and the situation still grim for many of the worlds poorest who were most affected by the deadly wave.  (Ami Vitale)
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  • NEPALGANJ, NEPAL, APRIL 14, 2004: Nepali girls who were orphaned because of the Maoist insurgency hug eachother inside the Sahara orphanage in Nepalganj, Nepal April 14, 2004.   (Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • Abouleacrine ag Tadima teaches children basic health in his classroom in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.    the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Mahmoud stands in front of the chalk board as they wait for their teacher to arrive in a classroom in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.    the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • EKANGERSERAI, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Children leave the Middle School Ekangerserai after monsoon rains flooded the classrooms in this village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Jenabu Balde rests her head inside the school in the remote village of Dembel Jumpora in Guinea Bissua.  Most men coming from this conservative Muslim village of Fulani's believe the girls should stay at home and work.
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  • Shinyanga, Tanzania, October 4, 2003: Girls who have just finished exams for 7th Standard, Eunice Sospeter, left and her friend Helena Simon sit in a window October 04, 2003 in Shinyanga, Tanzania. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Zeina Waled Dossane pounds millet in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.   the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Zeina Waled Dossane pounds millet in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.   the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 10:  Afghan girls learn too sew September 10, 2002 in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 10:  Afghan girls learn to sew in a program run through the UN Habitat September 10, 2002 in Kabul, Afghanistan.  Old magazines of western and Indian models decorate the walls fo the workshop. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 10:  Afghan girls learn embroidery using machines made out of bicycles to power the sewing machines September 10, 2002 in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • NEPALGANJ, NEPAL, APRIL 14, 2004:  Nepali girls who were orphaned because of the Maoist insurgency study inside the Sahara orphanage in Nepalganj, Nepal April 14, 2004.   (Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • NEPALGANJ, NEPAL, APRIL 14, 2004: Nepali girls who were orphaned because of the Maoist insurgency hug eachother inside the Sahara orphanage in Nepalganj, Nepal April 14, 2004.   (Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • NEPALGANJ, NEPAL, APRIL 14, 2004: Nepali girls who were orphaned because of the Maoist insurgency play inside the Sahara orphanage in Nepalganj, Nepal April 14, 2004.   (Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • NEPALGANJ, NEPAL, APRIL 14, 2004: Nepali girls orphaned because of the Maoist insurgency hug eachother as they play inside the Sahara orphanage in Nepalganj, Nepal April 14, 2004.   (Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • Children listen to their teacher in a classroom in the  village of Intedeyne March 16, 2007.  She had to drop out of school when she was married at the age of 14.  the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Abouleacrine ag Tadima teaches children basic health in his classroom in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.    the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • A mother gives her child some water during a break while she works  in a garden that Oxfam supported in the village of Intedeyne March 14, 2007. In this arid landscape, it requires a lot of work to maintain any kind of agriculture but it is one of the projects along with  education that Oxfam is supporting here.  Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day. In 2000, following the international commitments on education, the Government of Mali created a ten year education development program and as a result, donars provided two and a half times more aid to basic education. As a result, more than 6 out of 10 primary school age children are now enrolled in Mali. Yet the challenge to educate still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates.Eight of the world's ten countries farthest from the gender parity goal are in West Africa: Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Benin and Guinea.
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  • Baksesa prepares lunch for children, often their only meal of the day after school in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.    Food is provided by Oxfam in an effort to encourage the children to attend school. the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Fatimata sits in a classroom in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.     the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Children eat lunch, often their only meal of the day after school in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.    Food is provided by Oxfam in an effort to encourage the children to attend school. the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Children play a game called Takliliko where they fall into the arms of others while singing in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.    the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Adaha sits in her home and talks about the need for women and men to be able to have more equality in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.   the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Children answer questions in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.   the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Zeina Waled Dossane pounds millet in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.   the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
    DSC_0089.jpg
  • Mahmoud stands in front of the chalk board as they wait for their teacher to arrive in a classroom in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.    the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Fatima stands in a garden that Oxfam supported in the village of Intedeyne March 14, 2007. In this arid landscape, it requires a lot of work to maintain any kind of agriculture but it is one of the projects along with  education that Oxfam is supporting here.  Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day. In 2000, following the international commitments on education, the Government of Mali created a ten year education development program and as a result, donars provided two and a half times more aid to basic education. As a result, more than 6 out of 10 primary school age children are now enrolled in Mali. Yet the challenge to educate still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates.Eight of the world's ten countries farthest from the gender parity goal are in West Africa: Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Benin and Guinea.
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  • Children in a classroom in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.    the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • Muna, wearing white flowered dress, sits in a classroom in the  village of Intedeyne March 15, 2007.    the challenge to educate children in Mali still exists and particularly for girls. Female literacy rates never reach even 50 percent of male literacy rates. Mali has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in any country in the world. Ninety percent of Malians survive on less than two dollars a day.
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  • EKANGERSERAI, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Children leave the Middle School Ekangerserai after monsoon rains flooded the classrooms in this village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • EKANGERSERAI, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Children leave the Middle School Ekangerserai after monsoon rains flooded the classrooms in this village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • EKANGERSERAI, BIHAR: AUGUST 11: Indian children wait for class to begin after lunch at Middle School Ekangerserai school.  Monsoon rains flooded the classrooms in this village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Camel fair-Gypsies-Gypsie girls wearing traditional Rajasthani dress watch camel traders from India look at the vast offerings as sun falls at the largest camel fair in the world in Pushkar, India in the state of Rajasthan November 26, 2001.
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  • Abi Taco holds a photo of herself as a baby. Her mother tragically died when she was a child and her grandfather raised her. He insists that she should have an education and bought her a bicycle so she can travel to a better school miles away from her village in the remote village in Guinea Bissau. Her grandfather is an enlightened man. Most men coming from this conservative Muslim village of Fulani's believe the girls should stay at home and work.
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  • EKANGERSERAI, BIHAR: AUGUST 11:Children leave the Middle School Ekangerserai after monsoon rains flooded the classrooms in this village about 100 kilometers from Patna in the state of Bihar, India August 11, 2003.  Bihar is the poorest state in India and girls often suffer the most because of the poverty, lack of education and opportunities. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Shafika Abbasi, 20, left, who was living in Burke, Va. for the last four years and a relative, Belquis Azizyar, right, visits her cousin Nafisa Arifi after she gave birth to a baby girl  at the Rabia Balkhi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 4, 2002. Infant mortality in Afghanistan in 2000 was 165 per 1,000. live births - one of the highest figures in the world, according to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF). More than one if four children die before age 5. The U.S. infant mortality rate is 7 per 1,000. Half Afghanistan's children suffer from malnutrition. (Photo  by Ami Vitale)
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  • Shafika Abbasi, 20, left, who was living in Burke, Va. for the last four years and a relative, Belquis Azizyar, right, visits her cousin Nafisa Arifi after she gave birth to a baby girl  at the Rabia Balkhi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 4, 2002. Infant mortality in Afghanistan in 2000 was 165 per 1,000. live births - one of the highest figures in the world, according to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF). More than one if four children die before age 5. The U.S. infant mortality rate is 7 per 1,000. Half Afghanistan's children suffer from malnutrition. (Photo  by Ami Vitale)
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  • Shafika Abbasi, 20, left, who was living in Burke, Va. for the last four years and a relative, Belquis Azizyar, right, visits her cousin Nafisa Arifi after she gave birth to a baby girl  at the Rabia Balkhi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 4, 2002. Infant mortality in Afghanistan in 2000 was 165 per 1,000. live births - one of the highest figures in the world, according to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF). More than one if four children die before age 5. The U.S. infant mortality rate is 7 per 1,000. Half Afghanistan's children suffer from malnutrition. (Photo  by Ami Vitale)
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  • Shafika Abbasi, 20, left, who was living in Burke, Va. for the last four years and a relative, Belquis Azizyar, right, visits her cousin Nafisa Arifi after she gave birth to a baby girl  at the Rabia Balkhi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 4, 2002. Infant mortality in Afghanistan in 2000 was 165 per 1,000. live births - one of the highest figures in the world, according to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF). More than one if four children die before age 5. The U.S. infant mortality rate is 7 per 1,000. Half Afghanistan's children suffer from malnutrition. (Photo  by Ami Vitale)
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  • Kadija visits Fatna Adem, 28, just a few days after she helped her give birth to a baby girl in a village in Barentu, Eritrea August 30, 2006.    (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Kadija visits Fatna Adem, 28, just a few days after she helped her give birth to a baby girl in a village in Barentu, Eritrea August 30, 2006.    (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Kadija visits Fatna Adem, 28, just a few days after she helped her give birth to a baby girl in a village in Barentu, Eritrea August 30, 2006.    (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Coptic christians bath in what they believe is holy water in the river Abune in Barentu, Eritrea August 29, 2006. They believe that the water cured a blind girl and her brother who was paralyzed  over 30 years ago. Hundreds of pilgrims came to the site  to make  offerings of goat, drink the holy water, bath and pray.     (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • Shafika Abbasi, 20, right, who was living in Burke, Va. for the last four years and a relative, Belquis Azizyar, left, visits her cousin Nafisa Arifi after she gave birth to a baby girl  at the Rabia Balkhi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 4, 2002. Infant mortality in Afghanistan in 2000 was 165 per 1,000. live births - one of the highest figures in the world, according to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF). More than one if four children die before age 5. The U.S. infant mortality rate is 7 per 1,000. Half Afghanistan's children suffer from malnutrition. (Photo  by Ami Vitale)
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  • Shafika Abbasi, 20, left, who was living in Burke, Va. for the last four years and a relative, Belquis Azizyar, right, visits her cousin Nafisa Arifi after she gave birth to a baby girl  at the Rabia Balkhi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 4, 2002. Infant mortality in Afghanistan in 2000 was 165 per 1,000. live births - one of the highest figures in the world, according to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF). More than one if four children die before age 5. The U.S. infant mortality rate is 7 per 1,000. Half Afghanistan's children suffer from malnutrition. (Photo  by Ami Vitale)
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  • Shafika Abbasi, 20, left, who was living in Burke, Va. for the last four years and a relative, Belquis Azizyar, right, visits her cousin Nafisa Arifi after she gave birth to a baby girl  at the Rabia Balkhi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 4, 2002. Infant mortality in Afghanistan in 2000 was 165 per 1,000. live births - one of the highest figures in the world, according to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF). More than one if four children die before age 5. The U.S. infant mortality rate is 7 per 1,000. Half Afghanistan's children suffer from malnutrition. (Photo  by Ami Vitale)
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  • A Muslim Kashmiri woman sits inside a shop with her children where traditional Islamic veils are made in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian held Kashmir. The shadowy group, Lashkar-e-Jabbar, also known as Allah's Army sent a letter to a local newspaper saying that Muslim Kashmiri women must adhere to the dress code or face acid attacks. The leader of the group also wrote, "if our members see any boy or girl or any illegal couple doing acts of immortality they will be killed there and then".The same group claimed responsibility for two acid attacks on women in Srinagar last year.
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  • India Tsunami:back to the Ocean: A girl tries to pull her sister into the ocean for the first time since the deadly tsunami devastated the entire coastline of Tamil Nadu in Nagapattinum, August 2005. The recovery process is slow and difficult since many got no compensation at all, do not have homes or jobs and live in unhealthy living conditions. The situation still grim for many of the worlds poorest who were most affected by the deadly wave.
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  • Coptic christians bath in what they believe is holy water in the river Abune in Barentu, Eritrea August 29, 2006. They believe that the water cured a blind girl and her brother who was paralyzed  over 30 years ago. Hundreds of pilgrims came to the site  to make  offerings of goat, drink the holy water, bath and pray.     (Photo by Ami Vitale)
    DSC_0047.jpg
  • Kadija visits Fatna Adem, 28, just a few days after she helped her give birth to a baby girl in a village in Barentu, Eritrea August 30, 2006.    (Photo by Ami Vitale)
    DSC_0040b.jpg
  • Kadija visits Fatna Adem, 28, just a few days after she helped her give birth to a baby girl in a village in Barentu, Eritrea August 30, 2006.    (Photo by Ami Vitale)
    DSC_0031.jpg
  • Coptic christians bath in what they believe is holy water in the river Abune in Barentu, Eritrea August 29, 2006. They believe that the water cured a blind girl and her brother who was paralyzed  over 30 years ago. Hundreds of pilgrims came to the site  to make  offerings of goat, drink the holy water, bath and pray.     (Photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 11: An Afghan girl with polio and a man who lost his leg  learn to walk with at an ICRC hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan September 11,2002. While Americans are remembering the attack on the World Trade Center  one year ago today, most Afghans are trying to forget the decades old war which killed more than a million people here in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab111C.jpg
  • A Muslim Kashmiri woman sits inside a shop with her children where traditional Islamic veils are made in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian held Kashmir. The shadowy group, Lashkar-e-Jabbar, also known as Allah's Army sent a letter to a local newspaper saying that Muslim Kashmiri women must adhere to the dress code or face acid attacks beginning on April 1, 2002. The leader of the group also wrote, "if our members see any boy or girl or any illegal couple doing acts of immortality they will be killed there and then".The same group claimed responisiblity for two acid attacks on women in Srinagar last year. Kashmir has been the center of the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan since the region was partioned when the British left in 1947.
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  • MURELA, MALAWI - JULY 2: A Malawian girl carries beans back to her village of Murela in the Phalombe District which is east of Blantyre, Malawi, July 3, 2002.   After the droughts and flooding in the last year, half of the students stopped goign to school because of  the ongoing food shortage in the region. The World Food Program estimates that 3.2 million people in Malawi alone will be affected before March 2003.   (photo by Ami Vitale)
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 11: An Afghan girl and man who lost their legs to explosive devices  learn to walk with at an ICRC hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan September 11,2002. While Americans are remembering the attack on the World Trade Center  one year ago today, most Afghans are trying to forget the decades old war which killed more than a million people here in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab109B.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 11: An Afghan girl learns to walk with an  artificial leg at an ICRC hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan September 11,2002. While Americans are remembering the attack on the World Trade Center  one year ago today, most Afghans are trying to forget the decades old war which killed more than a million people here in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 11: An Afghan girl holds a leg brace she will learn to walk with at an ICRC hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan September 11,2002. While Americans are remembering the attack on the World Trade Center  one year ago today, most Afghans are trying to forget the decades old war which killed more than a million people here in Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 10:  An Afghan teaches a girl how to write during a class for students having troubles in the main schools, September 10, 2002 in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 9: An Afghan girl holds a portrait of slain leader Ahmad Shah Massoud during a ceremony in Kabul Sports Stadium September 9, 2002  to comemerate the anniversary of his death  in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 9: An Afghan girl holds a photos of Ahmad Shah Massoud during a ceremony in Kabul Sports Stadium, September 9, 2002  to comemerate the one-year anniversary of his death. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 9: An Afghan girl holds a portrait of Ahmad Shah Massoud during a ceremony in Kabul Sports Stadium, September 9, 2002  to comemerate the anniversary of his death. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
    kab105B.jpg
  • KABUL,AFGHANISTAN - SEPT. 9: An Afghan girl holds a portrait of Ahmad Shah Massoud during a ceremony in Kabul Sports Stadium, September 9, 2002  to comemerate the anniversary of his death. (Photo by Ami Vitale/Getty Images)
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