You can learn more about how the IRC helps here.

New photos from my colleague Alison Zureick in Sierra Leone. Alison recently returned  from a field visit to rural Kono District where she was documenting IRC health programs in remote communities.

The International Rescue Committee’s child survival program is helping to save lives and improve the health of young children in Kono District, one of the areas hit hardest by Sierra Leone’s ten-year long civil war which ended in 2002.

The program, which is the first of its kind in the country, depends on IRC-trained local volunteers known as community-based distributors who identify vulnerable and ill children and provide treatment in the children’s homes. Before, many mothers had to walk miles to a local health center to get treatment for their children.  Now children receive free treatment in their own villages. 

IRC supervisor Mustapha Bawoh reviews the ledger book of Richard Mbawa, the community-based distributor for Madina village. As a community-elected health worker, Richard provides first line treatment to children under five with diarrhea (“ron belle”), malaria (“warm bodi”) and pneumonia—three of the most common causes of death in young children. Richard and his fellow volunteers also encourage mothers to take their children to the local clinic if their conditions worsen and to attend monthly health education sessions.

A young mother named Anamie sits with her daughter, Christiana, who recently received treatment from Richard for malaria. “Before community-based treatment we had to walk long distances to the clinic and pay for treatment,” Anamie says.  “Now our children receive free treatment in the village.”

Susan Matthews, the maternal and child health aide at the local health center in Kodama displays mortality data for the area served by the center.  Community-based distributors record and report on deaths in their communities to help identify vulnerable groups and unmet needs.

Sia Kanessie, a community-based distributor in Kodama, displays her supplies for treating childhood illness.  “Since I started working as a volunteer, the sickness in the community has gone down,” Sia says. “I like what I do because I get to help children have well bodi (good health). I encourage mothers to take their children to the clinic and to breast feed for a child’s first six months. I also work at night, making sure mothers use bed nets to prevent the child from getting malaria.”

A mother prepares her child to be measured and weighed at a monthly outreach session in the community of Small Sefadu. 

Health center staff and IRC child survival staff work together to track the height and weight of children under five to identify those who are malnourished. 

Traditional birth attendants sing about safe motherhood at a monthly pregnant women’s support group in the community of Bangabaya. The IRC works with the attendants to encourage pregnant women to visit the clinic for regular check-ups and for delivery.  Bangabaya is one of four communities in Kono where IRC is piloting its safe motherhood program. 

IRC child survival coordinator Dorice Manasseh introduces the pregnant women’s support group at Bangabaya to IRC’s safe motherhood initiative.  The program aims to increase the number of women giving birth at the clinics by improving access and quality of care.  Since many women find it difficult to reach the clinic,the IRC is helping the communities around Bangabaya to build a traditional house nearby where women can stay comfortably a few days before they go into labor.  The IRC also provides the clinic with a midwife and basic drugs and equipment for emergency obstetric care.

To learn more: Read the full story

To help: Give children in Sierra Leone a fighting chance at life by supporting the IRC’s effective child survival program. Your gift will be tripled, allowing IRC health workers to save thousands of lives in communities across Sierra Leone. Donate now - triple your impact >

“The War Against Women Never Ends”
“I’m checking in from West Africa, where I’ve been working with women in three neighboring countries, all recently torn apart by civil wars: Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Côte d’Ivoire. The Iraq debacle has monopolized attention and obscured these “lesser” wars — now officially “over” — but millions of West African women are struggling to recover. For them, the war isn’t really over at all, not by a long shot. This is the war story that’s never truly told.”

“Me, I’m a Camera”
“Digital cameras are the tool. I arrive with them and lend them to women, most of whom have never seen a camera before. I teach them to point and shoot — only that — and then I turn them loose to snap what they will. I ask them to bring me some photos of their problems and their blessings. They work in teams, two or three women sharing a camera and very nervous at first. (Some women actually shake.) It takes the whole team to snap the first photos: one holds the camera, another points, another shoots.”

I first visited Liberia in July, 2006.  The World Cup soccer tournament was underway. Driving into Monrovia from the airport on my first night in the country, I saw small clusters of people watching the match on generator-powered TV sets. Otherwise, the city was completely dark. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia’s newly elected president had promised to restore electricity to parts of the chronically power deprived capital city.  For now, the lights were still off.

My journey though Liberia however, was eye-opening and energizing.  I interviewed former child soldiers who had only recently put down their weapons.  The IRC was teaching them skills such as carpentry and auto mechanics that would help reintegrate them into civilian life.  Many of them hoped to open their own shops someday and were eager to play a part in building a new Liberia.

I met young children who only a short time earlier were selling sand, firewood, and plastic bags of water on the street for a pittance. Now, thanks to the IRC, they were in school and dreaming big dreams. One twelve-year-old girl wanted to grow up to be the second woman president of Liberia.  A thirteen-year-old boy declared he would be the first Liberian to walk on the moon.

In rural Lofa County, a remote region of Liberia about a day’s drive from Monrovia, I watched a youth group perform a skit they had written to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS.  Women’s and men’s groups, called “action groups,” and sponsored by the IRC, performed plays and songs about women’s rights.  Their message: rape and domestic violence, major problems in post-war Liberia, would not be tolerated. 

I also visited many IRC-supported small businesses. My favorite was a shop that taught women to tie-die fabric in fabulous colors and designs and then helped the women sell the fabric at markets or in their own shops. 

On this, my second trip to Liberia, I’ll be traveling to Nimba County, in the north of the country.  Nimba County is where former dictator Charles Taylor, who is now on trial for war crimes at The Hague, forced  many children to join his army and abducted women and girls to become sex slaves. There, I’ll be exploring and writing about the IRC’s efforts to assist Liberians who were displaced during the fifteen-year long civil war.  I’ll visit a clinic, a school, a radio station, and an agricultural project, among other IRC initiatives.  Whether it is treating patients, educating children, or helping small businesses get on their feet, the IRC is working with Liberians to create a better future for their families and their country.

I’m also going to Liberia with a special mission in mind: to meet and listen to Liberian teenagers who have been through so much and then to bring their stories back to teenagers in America. In this ever smaller world, being able to share our different experiences and cultures is more important than ever.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to taking this exciting journey with you.

Read all of Emily’s posts from Liberia here.

I wish I could share with you the voices, concerns and hopes of the tens of thousands of women and girls who come forward for help, having been assaulted, tortured, humiliated and disabled simply for having been born female and getting caught in the cross-fire of war.

I started working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in eastern Congo, where, already back in 2002, women were talking about not the one time they were brutally sexually assaulted, but about the third or fourth time… In the past six years, I have seen firsthand the sexual and physical violence against women and girls in 10 different conflict-affected African countries. We would not be exaggerating to call this violence a global human rights, public health and security crisis. The perpetration of sexual violence is both a tactic of warfare, and an opportunistic consequence of conflict and displacement…

Addressing violence against women in conflict is smart foreign policy and the American people care more about this issue than we may think. When the IRC launched a web-based petition to help garner support for the IVAWA bill, a surprisingly high number of the 50,000 Americans who signed the petition also wrote a personal note, expressing their sincere concern about violence against women and girls in conflict. This unexpected outpouring of concern led us to launch a modest e-advocacy campaign, in which the general public was invited to write words of encouragement to Congolese women and the local activists and organizations working to assist them. Within 10 days of launching the campaign, we had 2,779 people who wrote messages of support in response to the crisis in DRC.

Please permit me to share two examples of what people wrote:

A woman from New York wrote: “There are few words that can express the nature of the horrible wrongs which you face every day. We all have the right to safety and respect. Continue to speak out of the injustices and the violations of your souls. We are listening…”

A man from Virginia wrote: “We are writing our leaders and sending funds to help. I have also included your story in my blog. I hope that we can make a difference. I am remembering you when I vote and write Congress. I hope that the U.S. can become a force to help you in the Congo.”

The full text and audio of Karin’s testimony is available on the Senate Web site. Please urge your Senators to support the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) by taking action now. You can also send a message to Congolese women who have survived sexual violence.