Abject generational hardship is a systemic phenomenon which denies people a higher quality of life by limiting their access to basic life necessities. The article focuses on a group of ten girls between the ages of 10 and 14 living in a peri-urban community outside of Maputo. The first part outlines the importance of engaging girls through participatory methodologies (such as photo-voice) in expressing themselves, their challenges and strengths. Such methodologies can enable researchers to more clearly hear (and see) the voices of the girls and their creativity in addressing the complex issues they face on a daily basis (Moletsane et al., 2007; Mitchell et al., 2006). The second part of the article focuses on the idea of "picturing policy" by highlighting two priority areas identified by the girls, water and sanitation, which if addressed collectively and simultaneously by multi-stakeholder groups, could improve the girls' access to a higher quality of life. The article considers the ways that participatory visual methodologies with communities can become a critical component of policy dialogue. (Contains 5 endnotes and 3 figures.)