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Whatever we asked, the reply was: “no, we do not have it”, “no one listens to us”, “no one comes to us” or “no one is willing to help us”.

A community leader told HCR’s Hazeen Latif, “we are 3000 houses and an estimated population of 15000 including children and elderly people there is not a single BHU (basic health unit) or even some private clinic. There is no public dispensary. The list goes on and on.  This is “Sunda Sar” or “skull of bull” meaning a place of prosperity and power.

In today’s tech savvy world, information is just a click away with our mobile phones and computers, or if those aren’t in reach, our televisions and even radios all help keep us informed. But what if we didn’t have any of these available to us? How would we find out important health and community information? HCR has been working in partnership with Seva Social Welfare Foundation in remote parts of India’s Maharashtra state, home to many indigenous groups known as Adivasis.

Two years ago a team from Amplifying Voices set up a community-centred radio station in the town of Garsen in eastern Kenya, training a team of volunteers from different tribal groups. Ahead of the August 2017 elections, the station was designed to promote peace and social development. Today, two years on, Amani FM has become a vibrant part of the community and a powerful voice for peace

“The garbage situation was getting so bad in our town, that something had to be done about it,” says Harriet Atyang, the station manager of Amplifying Voices’ partner station, Amani FM, in eastern Kenya’s Tana River county. Approached by the Kenya Red Cross in an effort to help the problem, Amani FM was able to go on air and get a conversation going about the importance of keeping the environment clean.

What a joy to be back in the remote Maharashtran village of Kahandol in time to celebrate the inauguration of their two new wells.  Just four months earlier I had been standing on a dried up riverbed with my Indian colleagues, Shilpa, Sam and Akshay and the head of the village, Patil Ramdas Warde.  Ramdas told us how the drought had brought great hardship to his village, with only 28 days of water, and he had asked us if there was anything we could do to help …

Picture this: a village with around 120 households; men, women, children and elderly all living together in conditions very few would dare to live. As the night falls the world beyond the village illuminates with lights glowing from house windows and on the streets. Cool air wafts from air conditioners and fans are blowing. But this village in KPK looks like a campsite with candle lights getting dimmer and dimmer as night get deeper.

Amplifying Voices partner station Amani FM in eastern Kenya’s Tana River County, has joined forces with another community station to promote peace in this conflict-affected region.  The project “Amani Mashinani,” which in Swahili means peace at the grassroots, involves young people in the design and creation of feature stories and talk-shows that promote peace, using the airwaves of Amani FM in Garsen and TBS (Tana Broadcasting Service), in Hola. 

These community volunteers in Majukay are amazing! Despite the intense summer heat and the fasting period, they got out and sprayed mosquito hotspots in their community to prevent Dengue fever infections. Has it made a difference? This year we heard people saying, more people are gathering together again in the places where community happens. In…

Umoja FM, HCR’s partner station in Nobili, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is supporting communities fleeing attacks by Islamist rebels. “Our team are doing all we can to provide essential information to displaced people as well as support to the wider population,” said Station Manager Baraka Bacweki.

Change is happening and its infectious! The development changes we have seen in the last few months in Majukay, a community in Charsadda, Pakistan, were almost unimaginable 4 years ago when the community members set ambitious goals for being a healthy thriving society. It feels like a corner has been turned, and the change is gaining momentum.