Faces of Courage | Mark Tuschman | Talks at Google
8Mark Tuschman stops by the Googleplex to tell the stories behind the images in his "Faces of Courage."
For nearly a decade, Tuschman, a veteran freelance photographer for over 35 years, traveled to seventeen countries, working in collaboration with UN agencies, foundations, and NGOs, Tuschman brings us his tender and unflinching portraits of women and girls who are living in high-risk, often life threatening situations. The women we meet in Faces of Courage are forced into child marriages that can lead to teen pregnancy, dowry abuse, and domestic violence, including rape; sold into human trafficking and prostitution; and deprived of the education that can lift them out of poverty and despair and move them towards independence. The hardships they endure make them vulnerable to a multitude of serious health problems, many of them treatable if they can get to a health clinic in time.
Pairing sadness with hope, Tuschman also brings us stories about resilience and transformation. He highlights advances being made by innovative, grassroots organizations that focus on educating and empowering women. Within these programs they receive help that dramatically improves their lives—basic medical care for themselves and their children, surgeries to repair life-threatening fistulas resulting from pregnancy at a young age, treatment for HIV/AIDS and other diseases, and shelter from violence. They are also taught family planning and trades that can lead them to running their own businesses and achieving financial freedom. Other programs aim to combat harmful social practices such as child marriage by enrolling young girls, mentoring them, and teaching them skills that ensure their value and autonomy, including reading and writing and peer sexual education.
Faces of Courage is a passionate call to action for us to become in Tuschman’s words –“part of the movement of our time to take a stand for women's rights around the world.”