Private Story
This Time We Are Young
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This Time We Are Young
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Nationality: Ugandan
Biography:
Esther Ruth Mbabazi is a photographer based in Kampala, Uganda. Esther uses storytelling and photojournalism to address issues in her society. Coming from a humble background, her work explores changing conditions on the African continent, with a...
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Focus:
Documentary
Covering:
Africa,
Skills:
Photojournalism
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Students from the VIP Academy for Aviation & Technology march on their graduation day in Juba, South Sudan. The students graduated in courses like Air ticketing, Flight reservations, Flight check in, Graphic design, among others. Growing up amidst conflict hasn't stopped young people from having their eyes set on the future.
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Karate students practice at Hai Neem Youth Center in Juba town. The youth center provides space for training in different sports and recreational activities like boxing, dancing among others. Youths frequent the center and take up an activity in their free time especially in the evenings after school and in school holidays.
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Nangah Kay Ako, 23, from Cameroon attends medical school in Mannheim, Germany. She has been living in Germany since 2015 and is carving out her own space in the German environment. “I am glad I came here - I like the school, I have made friends and I am able to have my studies. I know it is very different and difficult for many students back in Cameroon because of the civil unrests there.”
This Time We Are Young: Making Home is a photography project that documents the daily lives and experiences of young African migrants and refugees to Europe. Through an intimate lens, we are invited into the lives of young people that moved from their home countries in Africa for different reasons and at different times of their lives. This story is an insight into the new generation that is yet to diversely shape the future of Europe.
This Time We Are Young: Making Home is a photography project that documents the daily lives and experiences of young African migrants and refugees to Europe. Through an intimate lens, we are invited into the lives of young people that moved from their home countries in Africa for different reasons and at different times of their lives. This story is an insight into the new generation that is yet to diversely shape the future of Europe.
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Ange-Marie Ishyaka, 25 was born in Rwanda. She lost her parents during the genocide in 1994 and moved to Belgium with her aunt. She was raised up by a Belgian family and has fond memories of growing up with her cousins. She went back to Rwanda for the first time in 2017 and as an adult, it was a lot of adjustment and confusion because “In Rwanda, to them I was a white girl, here in Belgium, I am black girl.”
This Time We Are Young: Making Home is a photography project that documents the daily lives and experiences of young African migrants and refugees to Europe. Through an intimate lens, we are invited into the lives of young people that moved from their home countries in Africa for different reasons and at different times of their lives. This story is an insight into the new generation that is yet to diversely shape the future of Europe.
This Time We Are Young: Making Home is a photography project that documents the daily lives and experiences of young African migrants and refugees to Europe. Through an intimate lens, we are invited into the lives of young people that moved from their home countries in Africa for different reasons and at different times of their lives. This story is an insight into the new generation that is yet to diversely shape the future of Europe.
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Abdul Samiu, 23, with his friend Heretea chill at home in Berlin, Germany. Abdul moved with his family from Ghana 18 years ago while his friend Heretea was born in Germany to Congolese parents. He hopes to visit DRC for the first time when he saves up enough money.
This Time We Are Young: Making Home is a photography project that documents the daily lives and experiences of young African migrants and refugees to Europe. Through an intimate lens, we are invited into the lives of young people that moved from their home countries in Africa for different reasons and at different times of their lives. This story is an insight into the new generation that is yet to diversely shape the future of Europe.
This Time We Are Young: Making Home is a photography project that documents the daily lives and experiences of young African migrants and refugees to Europe. Through an intimate lens, we are invited into the lives of young people that moved from their home countries in Africa for different reasons and at different times of their lives. This story is an insight into the new generation that is yet to diversely shape the future of Europe.
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Aidah Nabwile, 15, in the mountainous region of Bududa, eastern Uganda, prepares to go to church. Uganda has one of the world's youngest populations, with 78 percent of Ugandans under the age of 30. With just under eight million youth aged 15-30, the country also has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
A woman waits to get a tattoo done at Nation Tattoo Parlour in Nairobi on November 15, 2018. Nairobi has grown into a vibrant artsy city with its youth expressing themselves in different ways. In Kenya, the social turmoil of the 1990s left scars that today are being borne disproportionately by young people. Yet the hustle of Kenya’s youth is their most defining trait. In cities and towns across the country fashion designers, creatives, aspiring doctors, and young entrepreneurs are transforming Kenya through their drive to define their own destiny.
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Anold Mulaisho, 26, a gay man from Zambia had to flee his country, after he was outed and the police was coming for him, leaving behind a good job and family. In Zambia, homosexuality is punishable by 14 years in prison. Now in South Africa, he continues to fight and seek asylum, which he was denied and currently lives on 3 months legal documents. He can not work and faces xenophobia in different forms in his daily life.
South Africa is the African country with the oldest legal rights for people in the LGBTQIA+ community on the continent. To many queer people in the 52 of 54 African countries that have laws criminalising consensual sexual activity between two people of the same gender, Moving to, or seeking asylum in South Africa is their hope for freedom, but what is life like for some of them that moved?
South Africa is the African country with the oldest legal rights for people in the LGBTQIA+ community on the continent. To many queer people in the 52 of 54 African countries that have laws criminalising consensual sexual activity between two people of the same gender, Moving to, or seeking asylum in South Africa is their hope for freedom, but what is life like for some of them that moved?
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Ross, a transgender woman in Johannesburg poses for some photos as a passerby looks on.
South Africa is the African country with the oldest legal rights for people in the LGBTQIA+ community on the continent. To many queer people in the 52 of 54 African countries that have laws criminalising consensual sexual activity between two people of the same gender, Moving to, or seeking asylum in South Africa is their hope for freedom, but what is life like for some of them that moved?
South Africa is the African country with the oldest legal rights for people in the LGBTQIA+ community on the continent. To many queer people in the 52 of 54 African countries that have laws criminalising consensual sexual activity between two people of the same gender, Moving to, or seeking asylum in South Africa is their hope for freedom, but what is life like for some of them that moved?
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Anold Mulaisho, 26, a gay man from Zambia had to flee his country, after he was outed and the police was coming for him, leaving behind a good job and family. In Zambia, homosexuality is punishable by 14 years in prison. Now in South Africa, he continues to fight and seek asylum, which he was denied and currently lives on 3 months legal documents. He can not work and faces xenophobia in different forms in his daily life.
South Africa is the African country with the oldest legal rights for people in the LGBTQIA+ community on the continent. To many queer people in the 52 of 54 African countries that have laws criminalising consensual sexual activity between two people of the same gender, Moving to, or seeking asylum in South Africa is their hope for freedom, but what is life like for some of them that moved?
South Africa is the African country with the oldest legal rights for people in the LGBTQIA+ community on the continent. To many queer people in the 52 of 54 African countries that have laws criminalising consensual sexual activity between two people of the same gender, Moving to, or seeking asylum in South Africa is their hope for freedom, but what is life like for some of them that moved?
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
Siya Hlongwa, 32, a trans woman participates in awareness activities at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was homeless after her family disowned her when she came out to them. “I am a siren, I do not want to just be a statistic.” She says of her volunteering work at the university, where she aims to help younger people, especially the LGBT homeless. South Africa is the most open minded country in Africa in terms of people’s sexualities. Many queer people in other African countries dream of a time when their homes can be legally free as South Africa. So, what does it mean to be a queer youth in South Africa today? In a place where you have legal rights to be who you are, but at the same time, where many people in the communities are homophobic and not as open minded.
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© 2024 Esther Ruth Mbabazi
David Avido, a 24 year - old self - made fashion designer in Kibera, Nairobi walks in his neighbourhood. Despite being raised up in Africa's largest urban slum, Avido is making his brand a huge success with distribution outlets in Germany and Jamaica. The hustle of Kenya’s youth is their most defining trait. In cities and towns across the country fashion designers, creatives, aspiring doctors, and young entrepreneurs are transforming Kenya through their drive to define their own destiny.
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