Guest post by Kate Pritchard, MCC.
Originally published by the Millennium Change Corporation (MCC). All photos are credited to them.
The Sub-Saharan nation of Malawi has made progress in human development over the past decade, but it remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Over half the population live in poverty, and 25% live in extreme poverty.
When MCC and the Government of Malawi began looking at the primary constraints to the country’s economic growth in 2009, one thing stood...
Guest Blogger
Written by Klara, 2016 ONE Youth Ambassador Germany
At 17 years old, Patrick was forced to leave his home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His city suffered multiple attacks from rebel groups, and he fled to Uganda with his younger brother, Raphael. After escaping this conflict, the two brothers found shelter in one of the most refugee-friendly nations in the world: Uganda.
Patrick and his brother have lived in the Nakivale refugee settlement for the past five years. The settlement...
This story was originally reported by Caroline Wambui and edited by Laurie Goering for the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
In this arid stretch of Kajiado County, Kenya where worsening heat and drought have been tough on livestock farmers, Arnold Ole Kapurua is experimenting with a hot new crop: chilies.
Ole Kapurua, 29, a farmer and agronomist, now grows two acres of the fiery pods – and is training other farmers to do the same – as a way to protect their incomes in...
By Ray Mwareya, co-founder of Women Taboos Radio
To girls in Zimbabwe who have worries like accessing nutritious food or sanitary health, learning to code might seem like a low priority. But that isn’t deterring 30-year-old Anoziva Marindire from seeking out girls ages 14 to 24 and teaching them computer programming skills.
“We`re creating an army of women computer coders who spark social change across Zimbabwe – and help tackle problems,” she says.
The former Africa Union Youth Ambassador is not frightened...
By Tichaona Jongwe. Photos courtesy of Role Model Caregivers.
In Niger state, malaria is so endemic that, on World Malaria Day in 2016, State Commissioner of Health Dr. Jibril Mustapha revealed that the disease kills 19,500 children under the age of 5 in the state every year. But a small group of unpaid heroes is working to become a vanguard against the disease’s spread.
The group, called Role Model Caregivers (RMC), are paid nothing but a small transport stipend. Together, they...
Story and photos by David Meffe
Somewhere in a garden-enclosed office on the outskirts of Kabale, Uganda, Faith Tushabe sits in an office scattered with binders and books. Tushabe is the Executive Director of the African International Christian Ministry, a Ugandan NGO that works with local indigenous communities to build self-reliance through poverty reduction, education, food security, shelter improvement, and sensitisation on human rights.
The NGO works especially closely with Batwa communities in Southwestern Uganda, where minority status leads to...
Story by Monique John.
In 2013, Wilhelmina Myeonway Cooper did something few Liberian women manage to do – she launched her own business.
Passionate about fashion, Wilhelmina realized that she could work with local bag makers and artists to get them to customize bags for clients. She came up with the idea after observing bag sellers at Waterside Market in Liberia’s famous slum, West Point. And so Myeonway Designs was born.
Photo credit: Myeonway Designs
But there was one major problem: Wilhelmina couldn’t afford...
By girls’ education activist Selina Nkoile and ONE Policy Manager Gabriele Simeone
In the Maasai community, girls are booked for marriage at the age of 6, sometimes earlier. Once married off — generally, at age 12 — their fathers are compensated for their daughters with cows (or ng’ombe in Swahili), the most precious assets a Maasai family can have.
Before being married off though, child brides have to go through female genital mutilation and — if they survive — become wives...
This post was originally published on water.org.
Four years ago, Water.org documented Rose’s story. At the time she had just taken a small, affordable loan to give her family a toilet and water at home. She explained why this loan was so important to her by sharing her story…
Rose dropped out of school after fifth grade. It is no surprise why she quit school so young as, globally, the daily struggle to secure water burdens mainly women and children. All...
Story by Megan Gieske; photos courtesy of Breadline Africa.
Breadline Africa started as a grant-giving organization, where those in need applied for funding and Breadline Africa raised the funds to meet them. Almost 25 years later, those in need can still apply, but assistance comes in a new shape and size — infrastructure!
Marion Wagner, Director of Breadline Africa, says that much of South Africa’s infrastructure is unsafe. For parents who work, this can mean sending their children to schools or...