The Human Interest Podcast Evelyn Wambui

How far would you walk for water?

For 12-year-old Nasra, it’s about 50 kilometres (30 miles) every single day. It’s a journey she makes every morning with other girls from her village who also share the burden of collecting water for their households. By the time she returns home, she’s either late for school or too tired and hungry to go.

4 August 2021, marks a year since a devastating explosion ripped through the port of Beirut. The blast killed 200 people, injured more than 6,500 and changed the lives of hundreds of thousands.

A year on, amidst a growing national economic crisis, the situation facing girls and young women in Lebanon remains precarious.

Ten-year-old Rebecca and Saraha were born just as their country was celebrating its independence. The creation of the world’s youngest nation on 9 July 2011 after decades of unrest was marked with joyful festivity – it was a historic moment and the world hoped that this new nation would finally know peace, freedom, social justice and democracy.

We spoke to the two girls to find out what their lives are like as the first-born South Sudanese citizens and how the conflict has affected their lives. “People fight and forget themselves. Only a few families living here have a good life. We want a safe and good environment with no fighting, no conflict so that we can go to school and get a good education every day," says Rebecca.

The theme this year was supposed to be ‘Access to a Child-Friendly Justice System in Africa’ but I feel we cannot talk about the International Day of the African Child and not express concerns about the impact of the pandemic on Africa’s children.

How the pandemic is undoing decades of progress in child rights in the continent and putting millions of girls at great risk of violence, abuse and exploitation.

What is happening? And how can you help? Listen in...

Here's how Plan International is helping
https://plan-international.org/covid-19-pandemic-appeal

Being kind to your mind doesn’t end with mental health awareness month…be kind to yourself all the time…everyday…remember, you cannot give what you don’t have…you cannot pour from an empty cup…you need to be kind to you first …if you want to be kind to others…

Sister Gladys has for over 40 years lived by the mantra …helping where nobody is helping…the thing about helping though…and a fact she has painfully realised is that you cannot help everyone…

NOTE
Savelberg technical training college is a private vocational training center located at Muringa road in Nairobi County, Kenya.

The institution is registered by the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA)