Health

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.

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.

Poverty and HIV/AIDs in Zambia is causing an epidemic of abandoned, neglected or orphaned children as family means are stretched beyond breaking point. Parents and extended relatives simply cannot afford to feed, clothe and educate the younger generation so many turn to orphanages as a last resort.

In South Africa, early childhood education programs are poorly funded by a government already inundated with developmental mandates.  Many of the system’s teachers were taught under the apartheid regime and did not receive a quality education themselves.  Without best practice systems in place and limited opportunities for knowledge sharing, the motivation and morale of teachers within disadvantaged communities is low and leads to high absenteeism.

Unimproved water sources in Myanmar compromise hygiene, sanitation and drinking water availability.  Unfiltered rivers and swamps are contaminated by human and animal waste, chemical pollutants and heavy metals which can quite often be fixed by simple low-technology solutions.

Across the rugged terrain of Tajikistan there are scattered communities in great need.  Disability is stigmatized, medical facilities are overrun, the employment base is narrow and drinking water is in short supply. 

In the Philippines the incidence of poverty is 50% for those who do not complete primary school, and less than 2% for those with a college degree.  Within urban poor settlements situations at home are rarely conducive to study due to noisy and crowded spaces, obligation for family responsibilities, lack of affordable tuition, and extensive unhealthy eating habits.

In rural Nepal, tertiary institutions are hard to come by.  Opportunities for higher education is mostly limited to those who are wealthy and live in the metropolitan centres.

China’s fast changing country context is characterised by rapid industrialisation, rural-urban migration, wealth disparities, epidemiological transition and an ageing population.  With a highly diverse population of 1.4 billion people scattered over a vast landscape of hard-to-reach mountains and plains, China faces a variety of health and development challenges.

South Africa has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world.  In collaboration with other NGO’s working in the area, our in-country partner assesses needs and capacities at district and facility level to then train and upskill healthcare workers through various area-specific workshops, seminars and master classes.

In Southern India we have a project underway to improve access to health services, education and community support.  The region has many of the social issues typical of a developing nation including poor health, employment insecurity, domestic violence, uncontrolled crime, lack of opportunity for higher study, personal debt and high suicide rates. 

Many local development organisations in PNG have failed over the years for want of a sound system of leadership and administration.

In the quarry villages of rural India, poverty manifests in many ways.  It is therefore necessary to tackle the problem with a holistic community development approach, building capacity through participation in every way possible.

Government expenditure on defence and foreign debt servicing have been an enormous strain on the Pakistani budget, leaving only 1.9% spent on health and 2% on education. Healthcare is scarcely regulated and beyond affordability to much of the nation’s most vulnerable.  Likewise, the education sector is frail, with less than half of all students completing primary school.