CARE USA's documentary, A Powerful Noise takes viewers inside the lives of three women – a girls' education crusader from Mali, an HIV-positive widow from Vietnam and a peacemaking survivor of the war in Bosnia – who each overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to bring lasting solutions to their communities.

 

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The women of A Powerful Noise
                                    

Jacqueline Dembele

Known as 'Madame Urbain' to locals, Jacqueline fights forced labour practices and illiteracy in the slums of Bamako, Mali. At education centres throughout the city, her organization provides girls a basic education, teaches them vocational skills and places them in good jobs. The group mentors graduates and provides grants so they can start small businesses. Madame Urbain’s ability to protect and educate rural girls has begun to change perceptions about the importance of education and the role of women in Malian society.

 

Bui My Hanh 

Hanh learned that she had contracted HIV after her husband and five-year-old daughter died from AIDS. Bouncing back from despair, she started a self-help group in Northern Vietnam to give people living with HIV/AIDS a place for support, counselling and health care. Hanh provides prevention awareness to the public, as well as medical assistance to affected families. Her goal is to stop the burgeoning AIDS crisis and to prevent stigma and discrimination against survivors in a country where HIV/AIDS is regarded as a social evil.

 

Nada Markovic

Nada survived the mass genocide of the Bosnian War as a refugee. In a region marred by war crimes and destruction, her women’s association is helping ease hostilities between Serbs and Bosniaks (Muslims), by reconstructing communities, supporting poor families and preventing domestic violence. Nada is building an agricultural cooperative to offer employment opportunities, fair-trade markets for families to sell their crops and livestock, and an annual festival that celebrates the progress being made between Serbs and Bosniaks.

 

To find out more about this inspiring documentary, visit the A Powerful Noise website.