Telling the ECSA Story

In the Eastern Province of Zambia, a concerning trend has been emerging. A recent baseline survey by CARE found that  two out of every five  girls under the age of 19 are already mothers. Young mothers often face discrimination and stigmatization causing them to drop out of school. They become excluded from crucial Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services despite having the greatest need for such services.   Febby Mwanza, Community Health Entrepreneur at Kasengwa. CARE International/Gift Katuta. Since 2003, Febby Mwanza, a 55-year-old mother of three, from Kasenengwa District, has worked as a Community Health Entrepreneur (CHE) with LiveWell​, a CARE Social Business​. The Social Business trains ​Community Health Volunteers (CHVs)​ on business, entrepreneurial skills, and basic healthcare training to guide communities and supply them with affordable health products to ​sell ​within their communities. "As a CHE, I sell different medicines like contrace...

  Young Women engaged in sexual and reproductive health. CARE International/Gift Katuta A recent baseline report , under the SHE SOARS program in the Eastern Province of Zambia, indicates that two in a small of five adolescent girls and young women were already mothers. With the greatest need for sexual and reproductive health services, the Out-Of-School Adolescent mothers  either have little access to sexual and reproductive services or are excluded from traditional adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) programming.  In the Chadiza District, Maryner Lungu had a dream of positively impacting her peers through a community group. The 19-year-old said, “My journey as a youth researcher started in 2021 as a dream which I shared with a few friends. I remember telling my friends how much I wanted to be part of a group that could create an environment for me to inspire and influence young people in the community. A few of my friends discouraged me as the dr...

By Alice Bikuba, CARE DRC Reporting and Communication Officer. Fabiola Kambere in her field at Sake/CARE International in DRC. “I am more than a rural woman because through the Village Savings  Loan Association Network I take part in advocating for my community and results are visible.” - Fabiola, Faida Yetu VSLAN   Fabiola is a member of the Faida Yetu Network of Village Savings and Credit Associations (VSLAN) set up by CARE's Gender Equality Women Empowerment Program (GEWEP) in 2019. The Faida Yetu RAVEC, of which Fabiola is a member, is made up of women who advocate for the implementation of the joint plan to improve the health center (CS) in Kaduki (Sake). This advocacy led to the mobilization  of funds to purchase a plot and i nfluence the direction of funding from the health structure development program (PDSS) to the construction of a maternity building, a placenta pit, and a latrine at CS Kaduki.   These advocacy actions are carried out in the context of supp...

Natalina Jose  received a hygiene kit from CARE  Govuro District, Mozambique/CARE Mozambique Cyclone Freddy, the longest recorded cyclone in Mozambique's history, brought torrential rains that flooded large areas of Southern and Central Mozambique. Cyclone Freddy devastated the district of Govuro in the far north of the province of Inhambane. Natalina knew that the worst was yet to come for her and her motherless grandson.   Natalina, along with the majority of Mozambican families living in rural areas such as Govuro, relies on agriculture for her main means of subsistence and income. With the rains increasingly irregular and scarce due to climate change, Natalina had been exploring the lowlands as a way of ensuring minimum harvests to get by.  However, the floods caused by Cyclone Freddy ruined all prospects of a decent harvest for Natalina and many other small-scale producers across Inhambane. Heavy rains, which lasted several days, flooded their fields, destr...

By Mawlid Mohamed Mawlid attending to a patient. CARE International It has been 10 years since I joined CARE International as a nutrition officer. Allah gave me a chance to support my vulnerable community in Somalia delivering humanitarian health and nutrition services.  Over these years, my career developed from being an officer, senior officer, nutrition supervisor, health, and nutrition manager. Now, I am in charge of the CARE Somalia Health Management Information System (HMIS). I have been privileged to work in the Garowe office, Bosaso, Burco, and Ceerigabo, offices. This has exposed me to different communities and the challenges they face in their contexts.  In my current position, I am responsible for ensuring the availability of quality data to make informed decisions. CARE Somalia works across more than 100 health facilities, and I ensure that we provide the most effective services and support to communities.  Mawlid checking through the files. CARE International...

Lilongwe, September 27, 2023 – CARE International in Malawi in collaboration with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) and ten national non-governmental organizations launches the Humanitarian Partnership Platform (HPP) which is set to champion the locally-led drive for a responsive response to humanitarian crises. The shared goal of HPP partners is to be among the first responders when help is needed the most while enabling women’s leadership in emergencies. The primary objective of this initiative is to streamline and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the locally led and gendered humanitarian response, with a strong emphasis on well-coordinated planning and execution for both response and recovery operations in line with the Grand Bargain commitments. This collaborative endeavour aims to extend its national footprint and deepen preparedness, response, and recovery operations, thereby making a substantial impact at the national, district and community level...

Participants now have stable running water they are using to irrigate their gardens. © Titukulane RFSA 2023/Samuel Chibaya Although Cyclone Freddy severely battered much of Zomba, lives and property were saved, thanks to the adoption of watershed protection practices. Led by Lifa Village Natural Resource Management Committee (VNMRC), over 3,000 households protected their watershed with water and soil conservation structures such as swales, check dams, eyebrows, deep trenches, and stone bunds before the devastating rainy season. Evelyn Mwada, secretary for Lifa Watershed in Zomba, recounted the effectiveness of the protection measures: "When the stormy winds and torrential rains came, many of the structures stood strong. Out of 3,000 check dams, only 168 were damaged; out of 1,050 swales, 700 were damaged; out of 500 cubic meters of stone bunds, 100 were damaged, and there was no damage on the 1,000 cubic meters of deep trenches. Titukulane has trained us on how to protect our area...