Our Year in Photos 2025

Explore a collection of images from our work this year and reflections from PIH staff around the world

Posted on Dec 18, 2025

Nurse hands newborn to mother
Partners In Health nurse Thandy Ketsia Tsoke, left, plays with Tlhokomelo, the 10-month-old daughter of Mathabelang Motselekatse, during their check-up at Nohana Health Center in Lesotho. Living with HIV since 2015, Mathabelang is a mother of four HIV-negative children. Photo by Justice Kalebe / PIH

This year, Partners In Health (PIH) faced immense structural challenges in the fight for global health equity. As foreign aid became a target for federal funding cuts, our work became more important than ever.  

When other health clinics were forced to close, PIH continued to accompany people around the world when they needed us: helping a mother across a river to get home with her newborn baby, supporting someone taking their first steps after believing they would be paralyzed forever, fighting for systemic change at the United States Capitol, and providing personalized treatment for someone with tuberculosis (TB).  

In the collection of images below, see those moments and others documented by PIH photographers and staff across the 11 locations where we work.

PIH Malawi, through its Program on Social and Economic Rights (POSER), distributed goats to Neno residents, including Aliness Kasimu, as part of efforts to promote financial sustainability and independence within their households. The initiative, known as the Goat Seed Program, empowers beneficiaries to raise the goats and eventually pass on the offspring to other families, creating a cycle of shared benefit and community resilience. Photo by Joseph Mizere / PIH

 

Mahase Pheko, right, helps ‘Masebabatso Mokatlela and her day-old newborn out of a boat that brought them across the river to their home village after a safe delivery at PIH-supported Lebakeng Health Center in Lesotho. Photo by Justice Kalebe / PIH

"In 2025, photographing for PIH gave me moments I’ll never forget. Lesotho’s beauty hides its challenges—steep mountains, rough roads, and rivers with no bridges. I saw expectant mothers and mothers holding newborns cross by boat to receive care and PIH teams pulling vehicles through deep river currents to deliver services. It was my first time crossing by boat while the river was full, and I was nervous—but standing beside women who do this with quiet strength every day, I saw not struggle, but courage." - Justice Kalebe

 

Samuel Musabimana fell seriously ill while working as a motorcycle taxi driver in Kampala, eventually becoming paralyzed in his lower limbs. Today, after support from PIH and with consistent medication and physiotherapy, Musabimana is no longer confined to bed. He can walk short distances, carry up to four kilograms (nearly nine pounds), bathe, cook, and manage basic daily tasks on his own—activities he once thought impossible. Photo by Asher Habinshuti / PIH

 

Dina Bustilles and her daughter, Yamilé*, are enrolled in the CASITA project, an intervention of the Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health program of Socios En Salud, as PIH is known in Peru. Photo by Diego Diaz Catire / PIH 

"Every year I choose a photo that renews my purpose at SES. This one did it instantly. A mother embracing her daughter with a tenderness that even fills what's missing. Behind them, the Peru I know through the camera and from the heart: immense, complex, and beautiful, but with challenges that continue to shape the lives of many families. This image encapsulates what it means to accompany: to be present, to look with respect, to listen, and to recognize the dignity that sustains people even in adversity. It reminds me that the most powerful stories aren't always shouted; sometimes they're simply embraced. And in a country where there's still so much to be done in health and justice, it's worth staying here." - Diego Diaz Catire

 

Secret Kayange, from left, Liti Kapesi, Martha Drino, and John Kapesi, along with their families, benefit from the POSER program in Malawi, which aims to promote financial sustainability and community resilience. Photo by Joseph Mizere / PIH 

 

Following the weekend's PIH Engage Training Institute, Fynn Crooks, PIH advocacy senior community organizer, right, hypes up members of Engage ahead of their Hill Day with over 170 meetings with Congress in Washington, D.C. Photo by Kathrine Kuhlmann / PIH 

"I was so grateful to capture just an ounce of Fynn's contagious energy at 8 a.m. in front of the United States Capitol building. Around 300 of us were preparing to walk into the halls of Congress to meet with our Senators and Representatives and ask for global health funding during a particularly divided time, and many of us knew we had conversations ahead that wouldn’t be easy.  

It felt a bit strange being in D.C. while the news was rolling in that the National Guard was soon to be deployed in the city, but the Advocacy team did such an excellent job reminding us of our purpose there and giving us hope. During this speech, Fynn made sure folks were prepared—knew where to go, what to say, who to meet with, what resources were available—and got everyone energized for what was sure to be a long day." - Kathrine Kuhlmann

 

Midwife Aminata B. Kamara, left, holds Bintu, the six-month-old daughter of Fatmata Foday, right, at PIH-supported Jojoima Community Health Center in Sierra Leone. Photo by Chiara Herold / PIH 

 

Diana Huamán, a project coordinator for Socios En Salud, right, shares her appreciation for Luis Olaya after he shared his testimony about living with diabetes with board members and other visitors at the Maternal and Child Health Center in San Martín de Porres in Peru. Photo by Julio López / PIH 

"I've seen diabetes in very close family members since I was a child. The marks on Luis's legs are just as I remember them. Every time I have to support someone with diabetes, it feels different because it hurts. However, I see in Fabi, Diana, Santiago, and all my dear Community Health Workers like Aurita, Corita, Isabel, Cecilia, and Anita the support and necessary treatments that, for many reasons, I didn't see in those I remember most fondly." - Julio López

 

Fifty women sing and dance after participating in a Gara tie-dyeing training in Kono District, Sierra Leone. The two-month training taught women to master the traditional Sierra Leonean art of fabric design. Gara tie dye is a centuries-old fabric dyeing technique originating from Makeni, Sierra Leone. This training provides a valuable livelihood skill that empowers participants to start their own small businesses, increasing their self-reliance and supporting their families and communities. Photo by Sean Andrew Bangura / PIH 

 

Kumba Comba carries her baby and the children of other mothers who are preparing Bennimix, a nutritious blended meal designed to combat malnutrition, as part of a program at Wellbody Clinic in Sierra Leone. Photo By Caitlin Kleiboer / PIH 

 

Labor and delivery ward staff, from left, Munie Clark, Linda Freeman, Elizabeth Y. Allison, and Decontee D. Assic gather around newborn Adolphus Wesseh at Pleebo Health Center in Liberia. Photo by Ansumana O. Sesay / PIH 

 

TB/HIV Program Manager Dr. Girum Tefera, right, visits with Mohamed S. Bah, a patient with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, at Lakka Government Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Photo by Chiara Herold / PIH TB/HIV Program Manager Dr. Girum Tefera, right, visits with Mohamed S. Bah, a patient with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, at Lakka Government Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Photo by Chiara Herold / PIH 

 

Just outside the Pediatric Development Clinic at Kirehe District Hospital in Rwanda, Valentine Mukandebe, a mother of four, and her youngest son, Felicien, who was born with a disability, share a moment of joy for the progress they’ve made together. Photo by Asher Habinshuti / PIH 

"Every story I document stays with me in a different way. I first met Valentine in the consultation room, where she was speaking with the ophthalmologist about her son’s progress. Listening to her share their story, I could sense the strength it took to reach this point. Later, when I saw her outside playing with her son, I noticed how she smiled at him, so full of love and patience. Regardless of everything she has faced, she never left his side and continues to give him that smile every day. In that moment, I wanted to capture what I was feeling: the quiet strength of a mother who keeps going, the bond that holds them together, and the hope that continues to grow through care and support." - Asher Habinshuti

 

At nine months pregnant, Mabatho Selai jumps rope outside the PIH-supported Nkau Health Center in Lesotho. Selai lives in Thaba Ntso, and to avoid having to make the hour-and-a-half trek to the health facility for her checkups, she has opted to stay in the maternal waiting home during the final days of her pregnancy. Photo by Justice Kalebe / PIH 

 

As PIHers in Malawi mobilized during Global Health Justice Week, one staff member noticed Saulos Metio near the Zalewa Health Center and encouraged him to see a doctor. Now, Metio is in recovery from tuberculosis.  Photo by Joseph Mizere / PIH 

"The story of Mateo is truly life changing. I could relate deeply to him when he shared what it felt like to be sick. The picture portrays resilience and a strong will to never give up. At times, Mateo went for two days without food but still made the effort to take his medicine. With no one around to check on him regularly, he went through it all alone, supported only by the dedication of health workers. His story reminded me that no matter how dark life gets, there’s always a reason to hold on. Mateo’s strength taught me that true courage is not the absence of problems, but the decision to keep fighting even when no one is watching." - Joseph Mizere

 

Screening for malnutrition, Sandrine Jean, nutrition coordinator, measures a young girl’s arm during a checkup at Hôpital Saint-Nicolas in Saint-Marc, Haiti. Photo by Thierry Bozile / PIH 

 

Dr. Joia Mukherjee, PIH senior clinical and academic advisor, left, leans on Dr. Sarah A. Morris, deputy director for clinical services in Liberia, as they head to a new PIH-constructed home for Pauline, a tuberculosis survivor, and her family. Photo by Aminata K. Massaley / PIH 

"Traveling and photographing patients’ home visits are moments I live for as a photographer. These visits let us capture real moments with people whose stories inspire our day-to-day work. This was one of those visits, but this time it was a special handover ceremony for a TB survivor.  

As we walked the narrow road towards Puluken, a small town outside the main city of Harper in Maryland County, Southern Liberia, I saw a sense of fulfillment on the faces of these remarkable women, despite the long miles we had traveled.  

I recall that Dr. Sarah and I had to overcome our fears of crossing the Hoffman River for the first time on this day to give little Pauline and her mother a home. This moment filled me with a sense of hope for the many people PIH continues to provide care for and reminded me that indeed “injustice has a cure.”  - Aminata K. Massaley

 

*Name changed by participant’s request

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