Telling the ECSA Story

  Portrait of Agnes in front of one of the 10 latrines she built in her village. In Zimbabwe’s Masvingo Province in Chikore village head Agnes Chikore, 63 is working to better the lives and health of her community. She has gone the extra mile to stop the spread of diseases, such as cholera, by making sure her village is open defecation free. Ward 27 has 42 villages, out of these, 41 villages are led by men with Agnes Chikore being the only female village head. The fearless village head, and mother of seven, tackled open defecation which was very common due to a lack of toilets, washing facilities, and sanitation knowledge. Building a latrine was never a priority among many and most could not afford the cement to build one. “Due to this our food and water were contaminated. During the mango season, we’d have close to 20 diarrhoeal cases every week. Now we rarely have any . Our children were openly defecating near the houses and we would simply get a stick and scrape it aw...

Joan, Jikaze Wajane saving group, standing in front of her beauty shop/CARE International.   As of the end of April 2021 , 159.318 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in Kenya and the national rate of positive COVID-19 cases stood at 9.7%. Kakamega and Bungoma, two counties in the western part of Kenya with the second largest rural population, managed to control COVID-19 better than other regions because of special support from the government for vulnerable rural communities. Especially movement restrictions helped to keep infections and COVID-related deaths at a lower level compared to other regions in the country. But people still suffer from all of the COVID-related restrictions. Many people lose their jobs and deal with trauma often because of COVID-related stigmatization.   Joan Naisimiu lives in Bungoma county in Kenya – an area close to the border of Uganda. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the 24-year-old mother of two lost her job. “I am worried about how I will be ab...

Women leave their homes and heading to IDP Camps in caravans in search of refuge much-needed and sustenance. Saddam Mohamed/CARE International FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2022 - As donors convene in Geneva, over 50 NGOs and NGO networks call for an urgent and substantial step-up in funding and leadership to respond to the humanitarian catastrophe facing millions in the Horn of Africa due to the severe drought, warning that further delays will cost lives.     This drought is compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, desert locusts, and now a further surge in food and commodity prices due to the conflict in Ukraine. Over 14 million people across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya - about half of them children - are already on the verge of starvation. This number will rise to 20 million by the middle of 2022 if the rains continue to fail, prices continue to rise, and significant funds are not surged to meet the needs of those in crisis. In Somalia alone, over half a million people...

Marial and his with the CARE Medical Team 58-year-old Luba Marial was brought to Pariang hospital, in northern South Sudan sweating and with a fever, by family members after suffering years of pain, without apparent diagnosis. Little did he know at the time that he was in a life-or-death situation.   “It started 3 years ago as pain in the kidney.” he says, “I visited the hospital several times, but I didn’t get a cure. I was refereed from Hakima health Centre to Pariang with severe pain, I couldn’t eat nor drink, life was hard for me.”   Upon admission in Pariang referral hospital, Marial was found to have a severe tissue infection with intestinal obstruction that required urgent surgery. Marial’s condition is a rare but severe type of bacterial infection which can destroy the muscles, skin and underlying tissue and is very difficult to treat. It is a highly fatal condition with mortality rates of 30% and above. Most Patients present with septic shock and septicemia...

  Jeanine and her husband laughting Jeanine   lives with her husband and children in Buhombo , North Kivu, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She is a mother of 12 children, the oldest being 22 years of age and the youngest 1-year-old. Jeanine farms and sells Irish Potatoes & beans in her neighborhood and Goma city.      BEFORE MAWE TATU     “To have 12 children wasn’t neither a plan nor a business. It was simply an accident because we didn’t have contraceptives for family planning... We did not know where to find contraceptives and if we knew where [they were], we could have planned.”     Jeanine farming in her land Jeanine and her husband did not plan to have 12 children. They grew increasingly tired of expanding their family as poverty began to take a toll on their family. “My husband and I gave birth without no break in-between. We were asking ourselves where to find help because the situation has brought us poverty,” said Jeanie. Be...