IRIN | Hear our Voices

humanitarian news and analysis
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs


Advanced search

Friday 25 July 2008

Latest reports:

Hear our Voices

A forum for people whose voices are often not heard, whose lives have been affected by catastrophe, be it natural or manmade. Many have been abused and denied their universal human rights; others have seen their livelihoods washed away by floods or lost to drought. Their personal accounts are a testimony to their struggle and their hope for a better future. Stories from aid workers offer a glimpse into the relationships between victims of humanitarian crises and the people who help them.

IRIN welcomes editorial and photographic submissions for inclusion on this page, reserving the right to select and edit as appropriate.

Africa

[

more testimonies »]

Wangui Mwangi Theuri: "In which Kenya will we stay?"
		Before the post-election violence in Kenya in January and February 2008, Wangui Mwangi Theuri was a landlady in a city slum, but she is now displaced, living in a tent at the Mathare chief's camp in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Prospects for her return to Mathare, where she owned 14 rooms - which were destroyed - are bleak after "rich" people took over her land. She spoke to IRIN on 21 July: full testimony
Florence Chepkemoi: “We decided to return when we were told there was peace”
		Florence Chepkemoi lives in the western district of Mt Elgon. She lost her husband in the land clashes that erupted in September 2006. She talked to IRIN about her experiences during and after the conflict which pitted two communities of same clan against each other. Thousands of people have returned to the district and are living with other families or in transit camps near their farms. full testimony
Unisa Turay, Sierra Leone Blue Flag volunteer, “Helping other people is like helping myself”
		The Kroo Bay area of the Sierra Leone capital Freetown is one of the poorest and most marginalised in the country. During the country’s six-month rainy season, flood waters wash refuse and filth into people’s houses, meaning waterborne diseases are extremely frequent. full testimony

Asia	[ more testimonies »]

Nurse Moe Moe, Myanmar: "I want to do my bit"
		Over two months after Cyclone Nargis hit the country, leaving nearly 140,000 dead or missing and 2.4 million badly affected, thousands of people throughout the Ayeyarwady Delta are struggling to restart their lives. On the front-line of the relief effort, Moe Moe, 27, one of scores of government nurses working in the area, told IRIN in the tiny village of Thaman Chaung in Bogale Township what she was doing to serve her community. full testimony
Khuda Bakhesh, Afghanistan: “We are hungry because of floods and drought”
		We’re hungry and poor because of floods and drought. These are divine scourges and we cannot stop them. full testimony
Corina Samuel: “We’re getting ready to build again”
		We had planned for some weeks to visit relatives in another part of the country, and so we were not far from Mandalay [Myanmar’s second largest city] when I heard the news. full testimony

Middle East

[

more testimonies »]

Ibrahim Sayyid, Syria: “You have to study hard to escape life in a tent”
		When my father began to receive death threats from a Shia militia, we decided that living in the desert was safer than being Palestinian in Baghdad. He bought a tent and we left along with my four siblings in the summer of 2006." full testimony
Abed Akkawi, Lebanon: "I couldn’t pay the full bill so they wouldn’t let my wife leave the hospital"
		Eventually I told the [hospital] authorities I had divorced my wife because I knew that was the only way they would stop coming after me. The hospital let Wafa go and she moved back to Syria and divorced me." full testimony
Ahmed Hassan, Lebanon: "It felt like a kind of resistance to celebrate and dance despite everything"
		When we celebrated our engagement during the 2006 July War, the Israelis bombed Abdeh, on the edge of Nahr al-Bared and we ended up in the shelters. Then the fighting delayed our wedding. full testimony

Back | Home page

Feedback | E-mail Webmaster | Terms & Conditions |

News Feeds | About IRIN | Bookmark IRINnews | Donors

Copyright © IRIN 2008. All rights reserved.
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Republication is subject to terms and conditions as set out in the IRIN copyright page.