What do you want to be when you grow up. One Day I will...

The aspirations, dreams, and power of girls caught in humanitarian crises. 

Por UN Humanitarian

One person in every 70 is caught up in a humanitarian crisis right now. Among the most affected are women and girls.
In conflict settings, sexual violence against women and girls that include rape, sexual slavery, trafficking, forced and early marriage, and intimate partner violence. Girls are often kept away from school for their safety. They are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than boys. It is estimated that at least 1 in 5 women refugees has experienced sexual violence. During droughts, girls are more likely to miss school, as they are needed to collect water and care for the family. In crisis settings, pregnant women are particularly at risk because they cannot access critical health care.
This harsh reality for women and girls rarely makes headlines.

One Day, I Will documents what we hear about even less: the hopes and dreams of the girls who are trapped in crises. 
A teacher, a police officer, an air stewardess, a football player – all aged between 6 and 18 years old, the girls featured have dressed up to show who they want to be when they grow up, using costumes and props from their immediate surroundings. By tapping into each girl’s vision for the future, the series reminds viewers of a shared humanity, and provides a unique glimpse into their current circumstances and challenges, and how they can shape the future.

One Day, I Will is a photo project by Vincent Tremeau, presented by UN OCHA.

Lorand, 13, Syrian refugee in Iraq. Break-dancer.

“People tell me that breakdancing is just for boys, but it doesn’t make sense as I am much better at it than any of them.
I think it is OK to be different. My friend Bellal is 15, and she dyed her hair blue to rebel against everybody else. We laugh a lot together and talk about the fact that if we keep this up, no boys will want to marry us and we can be free forever.
Two of my friends had to get married this year. They were 12 and 13 years old, and I have not seen either of them since, because their mothers-in-law don’t let them leave their tents. The night before her wedding, one of them came to see me and we sat on the ground while she cried because she was so scared.”

Ahlam, 12, Iraq. Dentist.

“I want to be a dentist to help people when they are in pain.” 

Fatime, 10, Chad. Jewelry seller.

“My family had a good life before fleeing our village. My father was selling camels to rich people. Now we’re alive, thank God, but we’ve lost everything, our camels, our jewels, everything. The journey was too long without our camels. When I grow up, I want to sell jewels. In my culture it’s a shame if a girl doesn’t wear jewels. I want girls and women to wear beautiful things.”

Khadija, 15, Nigerian refugee in Chad. Computer engineer.

 “I want to work in IT to learn and share knowledge. I was born in a remote village in north-eastern Nigeria with no school and no clean drinking water. What I have learned is that with the Internet, even if you don’t know something, somebody in the world has what you need. It is the best way to share knowledge.”

Martha, 14, Nigerian refugee in Chad. Police Officer.

“I will be a police officer to catch criminals like Boko Haram. I will use a weapon if I have to.”

Ismat, 15, Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh. Doctor.

“One day, I would like to become a doctor. I would like to treat Rohingya people, Bangladeshi people, all kinds of people. When I was 10 years old, back in Myanmar, I had to stop going to school. I hope one day I will be able to continue my studies.”

Françoise, 15, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nurse

“I am 15 years old and I have a child named Chance. He is 1 year old. When I go to school, I am not ashamed of anything. But others cannot understand why I am a student while I already have a child. I tell them that if I study, it is precisely because I want to help my child.”

Adama, 14, Nigerian refugee in Chad. Football Player.

Of course women can play football, I saw it on TV once. Some boys in the camp say that football is only for men, but when they say that I take the ball and I tell them, ‘try me!’” 

Sarita, Nepal. Engineer.

“I just want a career that lets me be independent. It’s pretty simple really: I want to be in charge of my own life and not have anyone else make decisions for me.
I am no less capable than a man, but a lot of villagers in my community still disapprove of women working, so I have a lot of challenges to overcome.”

Aicha, Nigerian refugee in Niger. Lawyer.

“I come from Damassak in Nigeria. I would like to become a lawyer to defend people’s rights.
I was born without arms and legs, but I want to achieve my goal in life.”

Malak, 12, Iraq. Sailor.

“I’ve never seen the sea, and I don’t know how to swim, but it looks so peaceful in photos.
I like to imagine myself sitting on a boat in the middle of nothing, surrounded by blue.”

Rupali, 17, Nepal. Tailor.

“Thinking about what I’d like to do makes me feel sad, because I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to do it. I’ve been married for five years – since I was 12 – but I haven’t gone to live with my husband yet. That’s happening in about three weeks’ time, when a ceremony called Gauna will take place. I have a lot of feelings about it all – far too many feelings to ever put into words.
I was so young when we were first engaged, and now I have to go and live with a completely new family, even though I’ve never met them before. I haven’t told my parents this, but I’m very, very scared. I just wish they had asked me for my permission. I don’t even know how old my husband is.
So when I say I want to be a tailor, that’s true. But I know I won’t be the person who gets to decide if that’s my destiny or not.”

Chandi, 9, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Basket Weaver.

“I would like to learn how to make baskets because it will help me, my future children and my little brothers and sisters. Maybe I will get married to someone irresponsible, dirty or even an alcoholic. If I have to marry such a husband, I will sell my baskets to pay for my children’s school expenses and to buy them food.”

Zuha, 10, Iraq. Artist.

“I do art nearly every day in the camp. I like drawing flowers and houses the most. But when I will be an artist, I won’t sell my paintings. I’ll just hang them in my house.
My mum says it’s just as important to be happy as it is to make money. She says my artwork will make other people happy too. That’s why she hangs my pictures in our tent, to make it prettier.”

Aseema, 16, Nepal. Vegetable Producer.

“My favourite vegetables are cauliflowers. It takes a lot of skill to grow a good cauliflower, and that’s a skill I don’t have yet. I really hope that in the future I’ll be able to learn.”

Dina, 11, Iraq. Engineer

“Daesh is destroying Iraq, so I want a job that lets me build it back again. I had my own bedroom in my old house, before it got burned down.
These days, there are 11 of us in one tent. I don’t know if you have tried, but it is really hard to fit 11 people in one tent.”

Fatimata, 10, Niger. Islamic Teacher.

“One day, I will be a teacher in an Islamic school to help people know better their religion and avoid disputes.”

Agnès, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Teacher.

“I am in first grade. I don’t know my age. I would like to teach little children so they can become smart.”

Fatime, 7, Chad. Driver.

“The gunshots woke me up when our camp was attacked. Everybody was panicked. I could not run as fast as my brothers, but I tried to follow them. I didn’t want to loose my family. The most difficult thing was not eating for four days.
When I grow up, I want to be a driver. I don’t know how, but I want to learn. I could do some small business and help my family with shopping.”

Otpika, 18, Nepal. Accountant.

“School is my whole life. I worked so hard to be able to stay in school. I had to stand up to my parents and convince them that I could pay for my school fees by setting up a small business to make handicrafts and baskets.
It’s not complicated why girls are made to drop out of school. It’s just about money. People don’t have enough food to eat three times a day, so if you have a daughter, you’re going to want to find her a husband as soon as possible because that means you won’t have to feed her anymore.”

Amina, 10, Nigerian refugee in Niger. Teacher.

“I come from Nigeria. When I grow up, I want to become a teacher.”

Gheena, 10, Iraq. Nurse.

“My mum is a nurse and it looks like an easy job. She was busy when we lived in Mosul, but now that we live in a camp, she is at home most of the time. She says she’s counting on me to go to school for a long time, and not to get married yet. I laughed when she said that. As if I want to get married.”

Habiba, 13, Nigerian refugee in Niger. Journalist.

“I would like to be a journalist when I grow up, because I want to inform people on the things that are happening around the world.”

Tasnim Sultana, 10, Bangladesh. Teacher.

“I want to be a teacher because it is a professional job. My hobby is teaching and I like my teacher, so I want to be a teacher.”

Kaltouma, 11, Chad. Farmer.

“My dad was killed when our camp was attacked. He was trying to gather some of our belongings to join us but Boko Haram caught him.
One day I want to become a farmer. That’s the only job where I can be sure to feed my family.”

Jesmin, 12, Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh. Soldier.

“I want to become a soldier to go fight and to help save people. When four of my relatives were killed in Myanmar, we had to leave our home and we came here to Bangladesh.
I feel better here than in Myanmar because we are getting food and we are able to sleep. In Myanmar, we were always afraid and couldn’t sleep at night.”

Poola, 18, Nepal. Air Stewardess.

“I don’t plan to get married until I’m 22, or even later, because I need to spend some time practicing my flying first. I’ve never travelled anywhere before, but I think I would be a very good air stewardess because I would be so excited all the time.
Being up high doesn’t scare me. Nothing scares me. The most worried I’ve ever been has been about maths at school. Maths really stresses me out.”

Sakima, Niger. Teacher.

“My father told me that later I will be a teacher like him.
I would like to teach to third-grade children because I understood everything the teacher taught us.”

Parmila, 18, Nepal. Social Worker.

“I see cases of child marriage and violence against women in my village all the time, and I really want to end it. Violence doesn’t have to involve hitting somebody – I think keeping a woman inside all the time and not giving her any freedom is violence, too. That’s what it used to be like in my family. My mum wasn’t allowed to go out, and she always had to serve the men first. It used to make me so angry to watch her live like that.
In the end, my friends and I sat my parents down and explained that this wasn’t acceptable. I was really nervous beforehand, but now things are better and my mum is proud of me. Sometimes she walks over to me and puts her hand on my shoulder and says, ‘My daughter is doing good work. She’s changing things. She won’t be like me.’”

One Day, I Will is presented by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) with the support of the Permanent Missions of France and Morocco to the United Nations.
It will be on display at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 29 July to 9 September 2019, and in Photoville New York from 12 to 22 September 2019.