For the community of Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya, 2021 started with a mood of optimism. After the year 2020, when Covid-19 led to lockdowns, loss of employment for most, loss of income for many, the schools being shut, and the children subsequently having no access to feeding programmes, 2021…
We are all aware of just how awful the impact of Covid19 has been in India. Heartbreaking news reports of people dying on the way to hospital; of hospitals running out of beds, oxygen, medical staff; of a country completely overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of illness and death from…
I Live Again – Uganda (ILA) is a non-profit organisation birthed and based in the northern region of Uganda. Founded by Benson Ocen in the aftermath of the horrific war that ravaged the area in the 1980’s – 2006, it has four key strands that underpin all aspects of its…
There’s no particular story to this blog, just a selection of lovely photos taken in Acholi Quarters when Helen visited there last month. It was over a year ago that she was last in the community, so there was a lot of catching up to do!
Nkuru Business and Vocational Community College is an incredible place in so many ways. Set in the heart of rural Mityana in Uganda, the students can live and learn in a beautiful environment, looking out over rolling hills of tea plantations and rainforest, and breathing in pollution free air. It…
When CRED responded to the request from ILA for funds to purchase sanitation products during the Covid lockdown period, no-one had a full realisation of quite how broad the impact of that soap would be. The plan was to use the distribution of the soap, plus face masks and hand…
The Rasuwa region of Nepal is one of the prime trekking areas of the country, and visitors come from all over the world to climb the local mountains in Langtang National Park. Trekking tourism is the main source of income for the local people, and so the tourism industry is…
From the youngest to the oldest, all students were delighted to be able to return to Comfort Primary School recently after the easing of lockdown restrictions in Rwanda. The school had to comply with government guidelines regarding hand washing facilities before it was allowed to open, but with the new…
The Voice School in Tanzania is a secondary school with a difference. Unlike most schools in the country, it has a 2:1 ratio of girls to boys. This policy is an effort to redress the gender inequality that has been part of Tanzanian culture for so long, whereby girls were…
Returning to school for the children at Spurgeons was a wonderful time after almost a year of Covid-enforced shutdowns. Not only does it mean access to education again (no home-schooling when you live in the largest slum in East Africa), not only does it mean a safe place to play…
