A Global Crescendo

This shot became the signature image of A Global Crescendo, a year-long project covering five countries. Here, in a village in Cote d’Ivoire, Baliman Safiatou (left), Yougoubare Veronique (center), and their teammates prepare to shoot the project’s very first photograph.—Ann Jones

“The camera makes me strong to talk about this situation that happens all the time in my village. This is violence, and it is not acceptable. We cannot accept that men beat women.”
—Goze Martine, Cote d’Ivoire

“This old woman peeling yams is a widow, left with nothing after the death of her husband. Her two sons live in the town, but they accuse her of being a witch and refuse to help her.”
—Kouassi N’Guessan Francoise, Cote d’Ivoire

“Why can a man beat a woman? This woman has just given birth, and her husband has beaten her. Woman is like a pot; she is breakable. A bad beating like this can lead to her death. We want to say no to this situation, and we want it to change.”
—Zounan Sylvie, Cote d’Ivoire

“This is a picture of me doing a job my husband assigned. If the work is not finished when he comes home, he will beat me. He gives me so many jobs I have no time to sit down and rest and feed my child. . . Husbands must know that a woman is not a slave.”
—Samandougoulou Assetou, Cote d’Ivoire

“This market woman was proud that Ann and I took her picture. She told us, ‘No matter what men do to us, a woman can still sell fish.’”
—Patience Walker, Liberia

“This water, I say, we are suffering from it. The water is bad. When people drink from it they get sick. The children die. But if a woman does not carry the water home every day, the man will beat her.”
—Hellen Mulbah, Liberia

“This girl lost her ma and her pa during the war. A man with plenty money fooled her. So now she is with these two babies. And where is the man? Abandonment. That is a problem we are suffering.”
—Sangai Kamara, Liberia

“We did not even know how to stand up and talk, but now we stand up to tell IRC thank you. They bring adult literacy into the community, and we go to learn how to write. We want to do more so we can learn more. We women want empowerment.”
—Kebeh Jallah, Liberia

“This woman supervises the road construction in Voinjama. See, woman riding motorcycle. Anything man can do, woman can do!”
—Annie Koiwu, Liberia

“The girl in this photograph is washing her child. She is not even fifteen and doesn’t know how to take care of a child because she is only a small girl herself and has dropped out of school.”
—Musu Koroma, age 11, Sierra Leone

“Our problem here is resettlement, especially for . . . widows with children to care for. This is our house that was broken by soldiers. . . We are now staying in a hut that leaks. When am I going to get another husband to help me rebuild this house?"
—Sao Kallon, Sierra Leone

“I took this photo of my classmates at the Girls’ Primary School. We think it is important for every girl to finish her education so she can contribute to her family and to our village. We need educated girls.”
—Lucinda Jamiru, age 14, Sierra Leone

“I took this picture to show how hard women in our community are working . . . We don’t have any electricity or any clean stream. We all have to go out and look for firewood, water, food, and such things every day. We are all tired and worried.”
—Charlotte M’Rubangiza, DRC

“I drew this picture to show that every woman works very, very hard on her farm, but working alone, she is in danger from roving men.” The caption written on the drawing reads: "Mama working alone in the field without any help from her husband."
—Josephine Mugoto, DRC

“These orphans . . . are street children, and most of them are joining the army because there is nothing else for them to do. The community must think of the problem of these boys and what can be done for them. We do not want more soldiers.”
—Nathalie Mirindi, DRC

“This picture seems to show a woman sleeping. But this woman has been raped and later brought to our women’s center where we gave her some medicine. Here she is resting. We covered her face because we did not want to show her identity—and she could be any one of us.”
—Evelyne M’Makalele, DRC

“A woman is receiving counseling after she was raped. I want all women to take courage because our women’s group can help them. And I want our local authorities to defend women and punish the authors of rape.”
—Kusinza Praxede, DRC

“This picture is a view of the crowded [refugee] camp showing how very near the houses are to one another. . . Diseases spread quickly from house to house, and when one house burns down the next easily catches fire.”
—Daw Meh and Phar Mo, Burmese refugees, Thailand

“The woman in this picture is living alone with her children. Here she is building her own house with her own hands. . . This woman can do this job as well as a man, but she has suffered a lot, working so hard for her family.”
—Naw Ra Htoo, Burmese refugee, Thailand

“I took this picture of a sick woman at the clinic to show that although there is illness and disease in camp, there is also basic free health care. Women get nutrition and medicine for their health, especially pregnant women.”
—Say Meh, Burmese refugee, Thailand

Global Crescendo photographer Naw Pa Lweh joined a forensic photodocumentation team and took this practice shot of a model with simulated bruises. IRC-funded camp lawyers use team photos of real survivors of battering and rape to prosecute offenders.
—Naw Pa Lweh, Burmese refugee, Thailand

“In this picture you see many people bathing in a small outdoor enclosure. Men, women, and children are bathing at the same time in this crowded space. Women are very sensitive about it, but they have no choice.”
—Pu Meh, Burmese refugee, Thailand

In October 2009, the words and photographs of women who took part in A Global Crescendo were displayed at UN Headquarters in New York as delegates gathered for the General Assembly.
—IRC