Reaching out to orphans and vulnerable families

Apr 25, ’12 3:55 PM
Reaching out to orphans and vulnerable families

© UNICEF Mozambique/2012/Marie-Consolée Mukangendo

On the 17th of April 2012, I travelled to Chibuto in the province of Gaza with IKEA co-workers from Denmark to visit some of the projects supported by IKEA Foundation and implemented by UNICEF.

We visited three households. The Chief of the Social Action at the district level and social workers came along on the visits. They knew all the families living in vulnerability in the area, and explained recent cases of children abandoned upon the death of their mother and father from AIDS.

In one of family we visited, a mother of four was expelled from her house with her four children, when her husband died from Aids six years ago. She lost all she had. Her house, her belongings, her status in society and she was even abandoned by her two eldest children. I could sense fear coupled with the stigma in her eyes while chatting with her. This is sadly a very common practice in this part of the country. Available studies and data suggest that the existing patriarchal culture and male-dominated social order is strong in the country.

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Sofrimento

Dec 20, ’11 10:07 PM

It is about responsibility. We adults have a responsibility to create a safe environment for all children, in which they can learn, grow and develop. We have a responsibility to ensure that Mozambican children in all provinces will have access to quality education and social services in a not too distant future.

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Table Talk: The UN Meets on C4D and Girls

Dec 2, ’11 8:39 AM

The Twelfth United Nations Round Table (UNRT) on Communication for Development (C4D) took place in New Delhi, India, from 14 to 17 November 2011. The UNRT was first introduced in 1988 as a mechanism for UN inter-agency collaboration. It is important to understand that at that time there was no common definition or even a common understanding of C4D (also named “development support communication”, “development communication”, “social and behaviour change communication”, etcetera)—a scenario that has improved considerably in recent years, thanks also to the outcome of the First World Congress on Communication for Development that took place in Rome in 2006.

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Which Way is North?

Nov 29, ’11 3:34 PM

Welcome to Which way is North (WwN) on The talk to walk to!

WwN is a dialogic blog–an ongoing recursive conversation with oneself and others. Its purpose is to narrate stories, to invite reflection, to challenge the status quo, and to provoke action.

WwN asks questions such as: Where does your compass point? How do you get from point A to B? What map are you using? Is there one preferred route?  Are their roads less taken? Not taken? Why not? And, what will you do about it?

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Dedication

Nov 29, ’11 9:42 AM

Malangatana

“Listen!  Can you hear them?  The trees: they are welcoming you!”

We had just pulled off the highway, on to the unpaved road that leads you through the groves to the Matalana Cultural Centre, and Malangatana burst into song.  Whether this was a response to the trees or an interpretation for my tree-deaf benefit, it was really all I needed by way of an introduction to this place and to the close relationship that Mozambique’s greatest artist had with it.  The simple village where he was born and the complex dedicated to the arts that he was building there were suddenly alive with meaning and beauty in a way that many other villages and projects I’ve visited may not have been.  It was, after all, the first time that I’d heard the trees singing.  Such is the effect of good communication.

And such was the effect of Malangatana.

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