Concern Blogs

Hadija (left) pictured with her mother at new water point supported by Concern. Photo: Isla Gilmore, Concern Worldwide.

Water has always been readily available to me

As a city girl it’s hard to imagine life without clean water. Being in Tanzania I have had to adapt to not being able to drink it, and constantly being cautious about boiling, filtering and washing food in clean water. But I live in Dar es Salaam and I have access to all the water I need.

Life in rural villages in Tanzania is completely different

I visited Concern Tanzania’s water programme earlier this month. Biharamulo District is in Kagera Region, close to Rwanda. It looks a bit different to other parts of the country where we work because the villages are located in hills and valleys. Read the rest of this entry »

Young boy at Concern Water distribution, who had just poured a small bucket of water over his face. Photo: Ed Kenney, Concern Worldwide

It’s 6am, I am just getting ready to go to the office: the floor starts to shake. I start to shake. The door bursts open, and my colleague asks, “Should we run?” We stare at each other. The shaking stops.

The epicentre of the aftershock today was only 35 miles away from Port-au-Prince and it measured 6.1 on the Richter scale—this only over a week after the initial hit. No one is certain of the physical damage from today’s quake, but I do know it has damaged the spirits of the people here. People whose houses remained intact had decided to move back in last night, only to be awoken by this shock.  The earthquake fear and tension has increased significantly. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

Putting a newly constructed well and hand pump through their paces. Maconteh Village, Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone.

I have been “off the grid” blog-wise since Mozambique, nearly three weeks ago.  In the meantime I have been to Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania, my point of departure.

In Ethiopia, my colleague, Foundation Officer Erin Sorce blogged about all the amazing education programs we were able to visit and document in Wollo and Amhara. Ethiopia is a truly remarkable and beautiful place, a cradle of civilizations and of humanity itself.
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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mother and Child in Mozambique

MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE – Have you ever seen an 8-month old baby vigorously drink water from a jerry can? No nipple, just a wide opening through which water is slowly poured, falling over the baby’s lips, then that familiar rhythmic sucking reflex. There is no crying, his eyes don’t even open – all of his energy is concentrated on drinking in every last drop. Read the rest of this entry »

The hope is that rain will come. It is now due: if it fails again, it will be devastating. It is no coincidence that the word for rain in the Maasai language is the same as that for God.

Kenya is currently in the grip of a severe drought that has killed crops, crippled the country’s production of food, and caused serious shortages of affordable food in urban areas.  But the pastoralist communities in Kenya’s rural areas are being hit hardest and most severely. Read the rest of this entry »