Listings starting with A

Agrarian communities of rural Gansu Province are periodically tormented by drought.  Lack of access to financial markets keep farmers in a trap of subsistence living as they are scarcely able to grow enough produce to break beyond their survival needs.

Government funding for remote schools in Vanuatu is minimal, if not wholly absent.  Many families fall outside the radar of the public education system because they live too far out of town and cannot afford commute expenses.

Although science-based medicine is gaining momentum in Malawi, witchcraft remains a widespread means of healing ailments in remote villages.  Unfortunately, when the deaf adopt this traditional approach, they are often instructed to fill their ears with plant and other material, causing further damage.  Furthermore, the belief of being ‘under a curse’ instigates a negative social stigma toward those who are hard of hearing and consequently leaves them at a disadvantage socially and developmentally.

Deaf and hearing impaired children in the developing world are greatly disadvantaged.  The cost and maintenance of hearing aids is so high that most families cannot afford them, and must instead rely on an intermittent supply of donated devices and short-term ‘fitting teams’ from abroad.

In Uganda, Remnant conflict and human rights abuses from the Lord’s Resistance Army continue to taunt at the diminished capacity of basic services and a crippled healthcare system.  Torture is widespread amongst security organisations, and child trafficking for sex and forced labour is painfully prevalent.

Due to population paucity and harsh weather conditions during winter, surface transportation is not well developed in Mongolia.  Rural regions in need of assistance are difficult to access whilst government agencies and humanitarian organisations are hindered in their delivery of long-term development projects.  

Chad's wavering history of civil conflict between the North and South have stunted growth and investment in infrastructure. Consequently, roads are often impassable and transport networks are meagre. Many hospitals have been damaged or destroyed and sporadic episodes of famine have caused repeated nutrition crises.

Arid and semi-arid pockets of Kenya are largely cut off from public services due to poor roads, dysfunctional railways and under utilised water transport.  Isolation leaves farmers watching their food rot as they cannot access markets.