For most women in the world, work & motherhood aren’t a balancing act. They’re the same act.

I’ve heard it said that building a career while your children are small is impossible. I understand where that feeling comes from. But for the majority of women on this planet, it simply isn’t a choice to weigh up. A young family & a full-time job depend on each other ~ quite literally, one feeds the other.

Every day, millions of mothers across East Africa leave their babies & toddlers in informal, makeshift daycare set-ups. No training. No accountability. No support for the woman minding them, or for the children in her care.

Here is where Tiny Totos arrives

Rather than replacing the babysitters mums already rely on, Tiny Totos partners with them. Informal childminders are trained up, plugged into a peer network, & backed with investment until they’re running proper, profitable childcare businesses. Better standards for the children. A real livelihood for the women running them. And parents, mostly mothers, free to go to work knowing their little ones are safe.

I’ve been photographing their work for NINE YEARS now. In that time it’s grown from a handful of daycares in Nairobi to a network of 2,672 caregivers mapped in THREE COUNTRIES: Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia. It’s arguably one of East Africa’s most successful social enterprises.

It’s incredible.

And the ambition hasn’t slowed down. Tiny Totos wants reliable, safe, affordable care for ONE MILLION women & children across Africa by 2030.

A day on assignment

My days usually start with a noisy, bumpy, dust-filled car journey deep into parts of Nairobi I wouldn’t have a single idea how to find my way out of. I’ve lived in Nairobi nearly my whole life, and yet it’s always, always new, wherever we go.

And every time, we land in the same thing: an organised, safe space for small children. Umbrellaed by a sturdy support network of nutritionists, counsellors, educators… you name it.

Hot mandazi & chai are part of the day. So are excited, noisy, messy children tugging at my trousers, and an extensive shot list to get through before the light goes.

Working with hard light

Ah, the light. Interiors are usually pretty dark — often a single dim bulb high up in the middle of the room — while outside the sun is blinding. It’s about as unforgiving as lighting conditions get.

In short, I’ve had to get creative. I work with what each room gives me. A slice of window light falling across a sleeping baby’s knitted hat. A deep plum wall that makes a hand-painted paper butterfly glow. Midday glare bouncing off corrugated iron & lighting up two grinning faces from below.

Some of my favourite frames from nine years came out of exactly those constraints. The dark rooms make the colour sing: red headscarves, maroon aprons, a yellow cup, a blue hula hoop mid-spin.

The women who make it work

What stays with me after every shoot isn’t the dust or the noise. It’s the care. A carer in her maroon Tiny Totos polo leading a song until every arm in the room shoots up. A tiny one asleep, completely trusting, while the day carries on around her. A cuddle that goes on just a little longer than it needs to.

These are women building businesses, one small child at a time. And behind them, a whole team making sure they’re never doing it alone.

After nine years of watching this grow, I wouldn’t bet against that million.