In photos: Helena Christensen meets Maribeth
During her visit to Colombia with UNHCR, photographer, model and refugee advocate Helena Christensen got to meet Maribeth, who was displaced from her home in the department of Choco when she was 7 years old when armed guards shot and killed her mother and sister. The gallery below includes some of the images Helena shot of Maribeth and her family during their meeting.
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© UNHCR/H. Christensen -
Helena photographs Maribeth dancing outside her house. © UNHCR/H. Perez -
Maribeth and her children at home. © UNHCR/H. Christensen -
Maribeth's eight-year-old daughter Marilyn studies in the local school. She also helps her mum cook traditional Choco food. © UNHCR/H. Christensen -
"Maribeth sells incredible tasting dishes made with rice, meat and lots of spices, wrapped and steamed in banana leaves," says Helena. © UNHCR/H. Christensen -
Maribeth and the family look at Marilyn's homework with Helena. © UNHCR/H. Perez -
Helena has travelled out to Colombia to document and photograph internally displaced women in both a rural and an urban environment. She photographed Maribeth in Altos de La Florida, Soacha which is an illegal settlement just outside of Bogota. Maribeth is a single mum and she says her children 'are the most important thing in my life. Until I had the children I was not happy - now they give me a reason to work and live'. Maribeth was displaced from the department of Choco, on the pacific coast when she was 7 years old when armed guards shot and killed her mother and sister. She fled and has never returned to her home town - 'I am too afraid and it has been too long'. UNHCR is working to have the settlements legalised which will mean the municipality will have to provide services to the community including water, education and health services. © UNHCR/Hector Perez