Watsemba Miriam

Watsemba Miriam · Documentary Photographer

Award winning documentary photojournalist based in Uganda. Archiving the truth, and provoking action.

Cezirina Keji, 46 in Gulu District. Photo taken in August 2019, by Watsemba Miriam.
Photograph by Watsemba Miriam
Antoinette Mukasanga, 36, a refugee from Congo, photographed at her new home in Kyaka II settlement, Kyegegwa, Uganda. Commissioned by: The Finish Refugee Council
Nanyonjjo Hadijja, 22 holding the ‘Tadoba’ they used for lighting before switching to solar power in 2019. Commissioned by: ASHDEN Climate Solutions
Photograph by Watsemba Miriam
Photograph by Watsemba Miriam
Photograph by Watsemba Miriam
Photograph by Watsemba Miriam
Photograph by Watsemba Miriam
Photograph by Watsemba Miriam
Six months old baby receives Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) at Kawanda Health Centre III. . OPV produces antibodies in the blood stream against all three types of Polio virus which could otherwise spread Polio paralysis to the nervous system in the event of infection. Mothers are encouraged to take their children for OPV atleast 4 times to ensure a long life protection of their children.
A portrait of Teopista Nyangoma 40, a mother of 12 at her home in Ndolire village, Kyaaka II settlement in Kyegegwa Uganda. Commissioned by: Finish Refugee Council
Atoo Krala affords a smile in the surgical ward at Lacor hospital as she poses for a picture after eventual access to professional mediacl care. This is after 20 plus years of undiagnosed pain and a life time of turmoil, war, sexual abuse and displacement in her early years of life. Her Sister Aburu Sarafina (black top) in corresponding pictures (SWIPE) has finally got a chance for hernia surgery at Lacor hospital. It is Friday, 18th August, 2019 and little did I know it would be the last time I hear of Aburu alive, she later passes away on Sunday after discharge from hospital due to infection in the surgical wound. There are many reasons Aburu could have died of infection but one of the many is the two sisters have been homeless since their 40s. They were displaced from their home district as little girls after their parents and siblings were butchered in war. Their husbands and children suffered the same fate a few years later. And the two had been wandering the North of Uganda with unhealed trauma, disease for years until they managed to access treatment as a part of refugee reach out in Lacor hospital. As we embrace the narrative of refugee stories, we should remember not to lose sight of the Internally Displaced people. There is many stories of host communities being unwelcoming but some of the people in host communities are people with equally untold stories of displacement and trauma. How do we expect them to give what they don't have? My heart continues to reach out to the surviving Sister Atoo Krala as I share this story, with hope that some good can come out of it to bless the evening years of her life. This is how I know to do best, share the story. I believe somebody knows something else better, somebody knows therapy better, knows building better, knows the law better. Please help! We can make the remaining years of Krala a little lighter, I don't know how, but I believe when the world hears, the Universe responds.
Photograph by Watsemba Miriam
Watsemba Miriam – Refugees-Former Internally Displaced People -Gulu8
Watsemba Miriam – Refugees-Former Internally Displaced People -Gulu8
Watsemba Miriam – Refugees-Former Internally Displaced People -Gulu 4
Photograph by Watsemba Miriam