Things I Learned Along the Way — Huck’s Fiftieth Anniversary Special collects lessons learned and creative advice from fifty of the most inspiring people we know. Each day we’ll be sharing a new excerpt from the magazine. Today, Eman Mohammed describes how she had to go beyond the headlines, and into harm’s way, to find the truth of war.

#35 – Eman Mohammed

When she was nineteen, Eman got a job at a news agency in Bethlehem and started enquiring about what it would entail to leap from reporting to photojournalism. Despite being met with continued resistance by male colleagues and her boss, Mohammed persevered. So, her colleagues decided to teach her a lesson.

In 2008, Israel launched attacks on the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of suppressing rocket fire from Hamas. One day, as fighting peaked, Eman was offered a lift by three colleagues who said they were going to cover a story. When they got to their destination, Eman got out the car and the three men promptly drove off, waving and laughing. Disoriented, Eman sought help from a passerby and ended up being sexually harassed. Rather than defeating her, the experience strengthened her resolve to pursue a career in photojournalism.

“It was too much to take in the space of one hour. I thought I can either survive this or perish. It created a strong reaction. If you poke someone you will get their attention, but they didn’t stop at poking me – they hammered me on the head. So they created this reaction where you want to stay and fight.”

This is just a short excerpt from Huck’s Fiftieth Special, a collection of fifty personal stories from fifty inspiring lives.

Grab a copy now to read all fifty stories in full. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss another issue.