Yesterday me and my journalist colleague met Devine Blessing for an interview. Her story is one of the most terrible one I have ever heard. 

The first time a man assaulted her she was at the age of five. Years later it happens again and again, by different men, in different countries; Congo, Tanzania, Namibia, Sweden. They were often several men and they raped her for hours, sometimes days. When she finally came to Sweden, the sexual abuse continued. This time by her husband. 

Today she lives divorced together with her children. Even though the scars will never heal, she decided to continue living, and her aim is to spread the story of her life. From time to time, she travels to the Panzi Hospital in Congo to give hope to the many women who come to Panzi hospital  to be treated for their injuries caused by brutal rape. 

Sometimes people say that women like Devine are strong. But I think that is a cruel thing to say. What choise has she got, what choise does anyone have with similar traumas like her? What does it meen to be strong? She could either die or continue to liv, and yes that is strong of her to choose to live, but still; the pain in her are brutal, present and will always be a part of her, strong or not. 

It has been an intense time with lot of travelling. Just came back from Kenya on a mission for the organizaton MAF and before that me and my journalist colleague Maria Hagtroem visited Lebanon to cover different stories for magazines. I will soon come back with more information but here is a photo from a school in Lokichoggio in the north of Kenya, just close to the border of South Sudan.

I am so happy that so many came and visited the exhibition "The women on Meri Seif - voices from a bus", at Black Door Gallery. An unforgettable weekend with many beautiful meetings. 

On Saturday, me and Maria Hagstroem exhibit "The women on Meri Seif - voices from a bus", at Black Door Gallery, Sweden.

In Papua New Guinea, sexual violence is a humanitarian crisis. According to Human Right Watch, the country is one of the most dangerous in the world for women to live in. In the city's public buses, women are often exposed to harassment; a recent survey found that 90 percent of women in Papua New Guinea had endured harassment. As a result three women buses, Meri Seif, are driving Port Moresby's streets. They are run by the Ginigoada Foundation, supported by UN Women.

Hundreds of women travel daily on the buses, which are free and have female drivers. The travelers come from different cultures, tribes and speak various languages, but on the bus they enjoy a danger free zone together. Without the Meri Seif bus many women say they wouldn’t leave the house for fear of being harassed.

We have been travelling with the buses for a week in Port Moresby, from dawn to dusk, rush hour traffic to the sleepy afternoon. We met ladies going to the market, school girls on their way home and a woman – rejected from her family – who every day goes to get a free meal. 

So much has happened since the last post. I have been to Rwanda, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand with my friend and journalist Maria Hagstroem. I also traveled to Bangladesh again to filming, writing and taking pictures of a big cycle manifistation on International Women's Day (client - Diakonia).
In February next year, we are planning our next trip to Namibia and we hope to visit the Bijagos Islands in May, one of the world's last matriarchs. Extremly interesting. Last year my beloved father past away and it has been a very tough period. It means so much to me that he recieved the book Hanseman, which was my love declaration to him.

Recently, I was contacted by inspiring Alexandra Andersson
who has started Sweden's first and only podcast about female photographers. I had the honor to be interviewed and we had a long and interesting conversation about gender roles in the photography profession. For example, we talked about why female photographers rarely have mentioned in history and much more.
Listen here:
https://soundcloud.com/user-65069094

This week the travel magazine RES published a nine page long story from Madagascar, that I and Maria did one year ago. It's very rare that I'm satisfied with a job but this time it looked really good. 
Yesterday, my work on the Swedish Radio and Swedish Television ended and the life as a freelancer takes over again. I will miss all the nice colleagues but hopefully I will see them again soon.
Tonight it's time to pack the bag for a short trip to Portugal.
I and Maria will spend a few days writing about their drug policy. It will be a long story in Situation Stockholm's december issue. After that, we will start planning the next trip that goes around Lake Victoria. What have I done to deserve this job? Happiness...