Multimedia

 
 

Healthcare in Mississippi

Nowhere is the American health care system more broken and desperate than rural Mississippi. Which is why an approach born in a broken and desperate place — Iran — may offer the best chance of saving lives. Photographer Lynsey Addario visited the impoverished state of Mississippi to explore this new approach to health care and hear some of the stories of those suffering from health problems.

 

Self Immolation in Afghanistan

Farzana is helped to stand up by her mother at home, as they prepare to go to a private clinic in Herat, Afghanistan, August 5, 2010. Farzana tried to commit suicide by self-immolation after being beaten by her in-laws. Farzana and her brother were engaged to two siblings, and when Farzana's brother took another woman, Farzana suffered the wrath of her in-laws as retalliation; she burned herself to escape the abuse. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Afghan women commit suicide by self-immolation each year to escape abusive marriages and in-laws; divorce is considered too shameful of an option for a woman who wants to leave a marriage, and thus suicide is a more viable option. As Afghanistan continues along the path of war and economic recession, the number grows.

 

Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone

In Sierra Leone, a country with one of the highest rates of Maternal Mortality, Mamma Seesay is fighting just to give birth. Mamma, 18 delivered one of the twins she was carrying in a remote village outside of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. She then took a canoe, followed by an ambulance to arrive at the clinic. Exhausted when she arrived, Mamma delivered the second twin. Shortly after the delivery she beg hemorrhaging and died soon after. Sierra Leone has roughly 900 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births; an average of 5 women die per day in childbirth, and 1 in 8 women in Sierra Leone will face a lifetime risk of death during childbirth.

 
 

Female Marines in Marja

Full-time "female engagement teams'" deploy alongside all-male infantry patrols in Helmand Province to try to win over rural Afghan women, who are culturally off-limits to outside men.