Noor Kajol likes to stay busy. The 12-year-old fills her days studying Arabic, playing games with friends, and making art. A refugee from Myanmar now living in a CARE-managed camp in Bangladesh, she left Myanmar with her family a year ago in the wave of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing extreme violence in the country. She has two older sisters and three young... Read More
In 2015, Jina Fungo and her family were completely surprised when a raging flood ripped through their village in the southern Malawi with no warning. They escaped in a canoe, managing to find safety upland. Jina’s husband made a desperate attempt to return to their village, Chilanga. “After dropping us off, he paddled back to try and save some of our belongings... Read More
Christina Fachi a mother of five arrived at Bitilinyu two weeks ago after her village in Kasume was flooded. She lost her two huts, a granary and some livestock. “Although I am glad to be alive, I feel empty as I have lost everything that I worked for years,” she says. “My whole life’s work was swept away by the floods. I will have to start again from noth... Read More
Mary* (not real name) escaped from floods in her village to seek refuge in a camp 20 kilometres from her village. Life in the camp hasn’t been easy. “I am always afraid to go to sleep,” she says. “Our tents don’t have doors so it’s easy for someone to just slip in and abuse you.” After a three-week dry spell, the heavens opened up with a ste... Read More
Onurina Ikikoyi cannot recall the exact date she delivered her tenth and last-born child. However, she remembers the joy she felt after giving birth to the only girl-child in the family. Celebrations went for a week, she recalls, as her relatives and friends delighted in yet another precious addition to the family. For Onurina, having many children meant a guarantee ... Read More
When I first joined the humanitarian sector in 2013, I never thought it would become my passion. My journey in this sector started when I volunteered with a local NGO, as a college student, to help people who were displaced during the 2013 crisis in South Sudan. I spent nine months in an area called Raja doing nutrition assessments and when I finished, I had my h... Read More
They refer to him simply as “the toymaker.” At 65 years of age with a thin white beard and a broad smile, Mohammed Asaf certainly looks the part. He lives at the Azraq refugee camp in eastern Jordan, home to more than 30,000 Syrians forced to flee the violence in their homeland. For many, living in the camp can feel like an extended feeling of i... Read More
The World Humanitarian Summit has had a rough ride over the past few months, not least from us at CARE, who have noisily demanded it engage with the need for political action and that it fully address the huge gender differences in disaster and conflict. However, to my surprise, at the end of the first day, it’s mostly achieved its aims. ... Read More
With humanitarian crises in the Middle East, Africa and Asia having reached the shores of Europe, political attention is finally fixed at what is perhaps the greatest challenge of our time: Reversing the trend of ever greater numbers of people deprived and displaced by war or natural disasters, and the failure to provide them with the dignified assistance they ne... Read More
Wolfgang Jamann speaks with Tuba Alyi in East Haraghe. Photo: Terhas Berhe/CARE. Last week I visited CARE Ethiopia’s field office in East Haraghe to witness first-hand the impact of the El Niño drought in east Ethiopia. I had the chance to meet with members of CARE’s Village Savings and Loans Ass... Read More
Raneem Alhomsi, 16 – from Daraa, Syria, now living in Jordan as told to Mary Kate MacIsaac, CARE Regional Syria Response CommunicationsCoordinator Even before the war, life wasn’t easy for girls in Syria – but we felt safe, we felt protected. Parents chose girls’ schools near the home. My sc... Read More
In a few days Muslims around the world will celebrate their most important religious holidays: Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, an entire month of fasting from dawn until sunset. This Ramadan has probably been the hottest and longest Ramadan that I have ever been through in my life. People are fasting up to 16 hours every day. We are not eating and dr... Read More
