Concern Blogs

Some 12 percent of all children in Malawi do not survive to celebrate their fifth birthday. Photo: Concern Worldwide

I have arrived in the Concern office in Lilongwe, capital of Malawi. The goal in the next week is to gather as much information on the current health situation of mothers and children in Malawi, and develop a program strategy about how to address the problems.

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Typical scene in informal slums of Haiti. Some 42 percent of Haitians had no access to clean drinking water even before the earthquake. Photo: Megan Christensen, Concern Worldwide

I arrived in Haiti the end of 2009, when the earthquake had not yet devastated the capital of Port-au-Prince. Initially, I was intimidated by the robust presence of the United Nations police and peacekeeping forces. But, according to Concern’s Haiti staff, the UN presence had played a major role in stabilizing this island nation and improving the security situation for the people living here.

At that time, Haiti’s streets were vibrant and full of life and despite the many challenges people seemed happy and hopeful about a more prosperous future.

According to reports from my colleagues in the field, that resilience has not been hampered by the recent disaster. Read the rest of this entry »

The desert of Niger from the air, tiny clusters mark out the villages beneath

I am en route to Niamey, Niger’s capital city, and from there I will continue on to the Tahoua region, where Concern works. I am travelling to help set up a new five-year Child Survival program that we are undertaking in collaboration with the government of Niger. The program will deliver child health and nutrition services in a rural area. Read the rest of this entry »

“Karibuni”  from Tanzania, (which means “Welcome to all of you!”  in Swahili).  In this video clip, Concern’s child-to-child hygiene and sanitation club of Kigarama Primary School in Tanzania’s Ngara District does -- to my ears anyway -- a pitch perfect rendition of “Karibuni” in song.

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Women in Tonkolili, Sierra Leone test out a new pump supported by Concern Worldwide

“How ‘de body?” – is the standard greeting in Krio, the lingua franca of Sierra Leone. Anyone who has been to Sierra Leone has almost certainly been initiated into the vibrant language of Krio upon hearing this phrase.  And the standard answer is “‘De body fine!” Read the rest of this entry »

MAPUTO MOZAMBIQUE – Before I leave Mozambique I just wanted to write a bit about the people of Mozambique. This country was devastated by a 17-year civil war that ended in 1992.

A snapshot of village life in Bento, Chinde District, Mozambique

That might seem time enough for a good deal of healing to take place, and it has — Mozambique is a stable, peaceful, forward looking nation. But the scars are still here.

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