In Boraba, a village in the Central River Region of The Gambia, 30 young women under the guidance of local beekeepers are learning beekeeping as a way to earn an income and protect their forest. The hives provide honey for an income and serve as a natural deterrent against bushfires. Despite cultural challenges, these women are taking the lead and combining environmental protection with economic independence.
Photo copyright: © Bente Stachowske for Nyodeema Foundation
Nyodeema Foundation is a non-profit organization that promotes international awareness, tolerance in all cultural areas, international understanding, human rights, environmental protection, and equal rights for women and men in order to promote their economic and financial independence in the long term.
Since 2009, Bente has been working as a freelance photographer in the field of photojournalism, documentary photography, and portraits. She is based in Hamburg and she realizes assignments for nongovernmental organizations, the corporate world, and newspapers in Germany and around the world, ashore and on ships.
Her personal documentaries are about social, cultural and environmental issues. For her work, she has travelled to the following countries: The Gambia, Malawi, Tansania, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Tadschikistan, Cuba, Cambodia, Nepal, USA, Chile, Morocco, and within Europe.
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