Africa

In Uganda, Remnant conflict and human rights abuses from the Lord’s Resistance Army continue to taunt at the diminished capacity of basic services and a crippled healthcare system.  Torture is widespread amongst security organisations, and child trafficking for sex and forced labour is painfully prevalent.

Chad's wavering history of civil conflict between the North and South have stunted growth and investment in infrastructure. Consequently, roads are often impassable and transport networks are meagre. Many hospitals have been damaged or destroyed and sporadic episodes of famine have caused repeated nutrition crises.

Arid and semi-arid pockets of Kenya are largely cut off from public services due to poor roads, dysfunctional railways and under utilised water transport.  Isolation leaves farmers watching their food rot as they cannot access markets.

Poverty and HIV/AIDs in Zambia is causing an epidemic of abandoned, neglected or orphaned children as family means are stretched beyond breaking point. Parents and extended relatives simply cannot afford to feed, clothe and educate the younger generation so many turn to orphanages as a last resort.

In South Africa, early childhood education programs are poorly funded by a government already inundated with developmental mandates.  Many of the system’s teachers were taught under the apartheid regime and did not receive a quality education themselves.  Without best practice systems in place and limited opportunities for knowledge sharing, the motivation and morale of teachers within disadvantaged communities is low and leads to high absenteeism.

Although Zimbabwe is ranked among the best in Africa for literacy rates, premature school dropout and subsequent income insecurity are rampant.  Credit facilities have little on offer for those who lack collateral security, thereby limiting their earning potential due to lack of investment.  Some are labour constrained, whilst others are labour endowed; but almost all destitute Zimbabweans are food poor and without means to support their household.

The large number of Burundian men killed by the HIV/AIDs epidemic or conflict, has created many poor and fragile households headed by women or minors who have little income to spare.  In order for the country to rebuild and provide a future for the next generation, these widows and orphans require adequate housing, healthcare, education and vocational training.

Approximately 80% of deaf Ugandans cannot read or write and 70% cannot count to 10.  In the past, few deaf children have been given the opportunity to go to school, and those who did usually sat uncomprehending and ignored.

Much work has been done to standardise Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) so that the deaf across the whole nation can understand and communicate with one another, from Kisumu in the West to Mombasa in the East.  Now KSL is taught to an estimated 2 600 deaf children in 32 specialty primary schools.

In the remote foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, access to healthcare is extremely limited and specialised disability services are virtually non-existent.  An estimated 3 million Tanzanians have a disability, of which far too many are consequently excluded from mainstream schooling and employment. 

The semi-arid climate of Eastern Kenya is a source for much concern over food and water security.  Exacerbated by climate change and land degradation, the loss of arable soil to erosion poses great risk of famine and drought.  

South Sudan is the world’s newest country having gained independence from Sudan in September 2011, but it didn’t come easily.  The country is taunted by ongoing civil conflict and religious persecution as more than 1 million nationals reside as refugees or internally displaced people.

Poverty is not so much a lack of ‘things’ but a lack of ‘power’ – the liberating power of self-determination and opportunity.  It starts with belief in the people. Without first building the base of an empowered people, the whole edifice of community development and meaningful social change is top-heavy and unsustainable.

South Africa has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world.  In collaboration with other NGO’s working in the area, our in-country partner assesses needs and capacities at district and facility level to then train and upskill healthcare workers through various area-specific workshops, seminars and master classes.