Photo Essay: The scars we bear

The Tigray Disabled Veterans Association in Mekele, survived the war in Tigray and is rehabilitating disabled people regardless of their role in the carnage.

Photos: Michele Spatari/AFP

The war in Tigray ended two years ago. But the loss and suffering it brought is still plain to see in Ethiopia’s northernmost region: missing limbs, scattered families, and damage to buildings and infrastructure that is thought to amount to $20-billion.

Ethiopia: We knew a massacre had taken place. But we did not know where – until now

One local institution, the Tigray Disabled Veterans Association in Mekele, survived the carnage and is rehabilitating disabled people regardless of their role in the war. Bahare Teame, the director of the 34-year-old centre, takes pride in this neutral stance.

To internal conflict, add internal conflict

But not all survivors carry visible wounds. As many as 120,000 people were sexually assaulted in a “systemic” campaign of using rape as a weapon of war, a 2023 study published in the BMC Women’s Health journal confirmed. This is harm that only its survivors, like Bahare and Mamay, can carry.

Hidden scars: Bahare, 30, was raped by three men in Eritrean army uniforms in 2022.

---

Brutal assault: Mamay, 25, was imprisoned and gang-raped for almost two years, together with other 60 other young men and women.

---

One step at a time: A young girl practices walking with prosthetic limbs at the Tigray Disabled Veterans Association in Mekele.

---

Stepping in: A Tigray Disabled Veterans Association worker prepares a prosthesis.

---

Off the bench: A patient watches a worker at the Tigray Disabled Veterans Association prepare a prosthetic limb for use.