Stories of Mkutani

Esther Awami is a 27-year-old photographer from Tanzania who is passionate about storytelling. She holds a diploma in Journalism having graduated from Dar es Salaam School of Journalism (DSJ) in 2018, before going on to work with broadcasting and media production companies such as Ona Stories and Ambary Encore. Over the past two years, Esther has been driving change through volunteering and organizing week-long workshops for Tanzanian female photographers.

Awami sees her work as an agent of positive impact in raising awareness regarding various opportunities and challenges faced by her community. She visited the village of Mkutani, located in the Dodoma region of the Kongwa district, and met with various families who shared the environmental challenges they face on the daily. In a conversation with Awami, Amina Swalehe, a mother of three children explains the clean water scarcity crisis she grapples with: "The biggest challenge we face as mothers is the lack of clean cooking energy. Majority of families in the village cook with wood. The use of firewood is dangerous for our health because we breathe dirty air, which leads to many different chest diseases". The use of dirty cooking energy not only harms the environment, but also the health of women and children. Since the 70s, Tanzania has been advocating clean cooking solutions and despite the efforts, access to clean cooking solutions has continued to be an issue with severe health, gender, economic, environmental, and climate impacts.