Theresa Kachindamoto: Ending Child Marriage in Malawi

By Michelle Nelson von Euw Theresa Kachindamoto is the paramount chief, or Inkosi, of the Dezda District in the central region of Malawi, the 6th poorest country in the world. In this position, she has authority over 900,000 people and works as one of 300 tribal leaders of the country. Kachindamoto came to power after… Read more »

Struggling Against Shame and Pain: Obstetric Fistula in Niger

By Elsa Sichrovsky Giving birth to a baby is physically painful and psychologically stressful for any woman, but for women in Niger, childbirth can debilitating as it frequently results in a condition that plagues them with chronic incontinence for the rest of their lives: obstetric fistula. Prolonged labor without medical interventions such as cesarean section… Read more »

Malama Ouani: Empowering with Education

By Elsa Sichrovsky In my comfortable first-world life, information is just a swipe away. Whenever I want to know something, I just pull out my smartphone and start typing a question into Google. Immediately, a plethora of helpful information fills the screen. If I need counseling, support, or treatment, the internet makes endless resources available… Read more »

The Deadly Consequences of Unsanitary Water

By Catherine Cheng Access to safe, sanitary water is a huge problem in Niger. Water is scarce since the Sahara Desert comprises two thirds of the country, and Niger is a landlocked country. Water in Niger becomes contaminated for a number of reasons. The practice of open defecation is widespread. People relieve themselves in bushes,… Read more »

Tracking Malnutrition in Africa

by Lilia Leung Malnutrition takes many forms. Did you know that you can be both overweight and malnourished? While many children today in both developing and developed countries are malnourished and overweight as a result of fast food culture, Africa is still overwhelmingly plagued by malnutrition in the form of stunting, wasting, and being underweight…. Read more »

Improving Health with Clean Water

by Michelle Wolf There are 700,000 people in need of adequate healthcare in Diffa, including over 302,000 refugees living in refugee camps and displacement villages. Sixty-eight percent of the people in Diffa do not have access to healthcare. There are only 51 healthcare facilities in Diffa. Four of these facilities have been temporarily closed and… Read more »

Sanitation and Water Quality

by Isabella Schmitt I’m a new blogger Wells Bring Hope, so in deciding my first blog topic, I figured I’d start by looking first into Niger – its size, its water resources to see what rabbit hole I fell into from there. I have a background in science and am keenly interested in public health,… Read more »

Food Security and Livelihood

by Michelle Wolf At the end of every month, my husband and I go over our budget for the month ahead. We allocate an agreed upon amount of money for groceries and attempt to keep track of how much we use in electricity and gas. Every other week, we withdrawal money from our bank account… Read more »

Investing in Clean Water Still Matters

by Stephanie Coles I’m a new addition to the Wells Bring Hope team. As I was learning more about the organization, I spent time reading and watching videos from the field. One story in particular stuck with me. A mother living in Zinder, Niger tells of her life before a well for safe water came… Read more »

A Universal Sound

by Shelton Owen Hope. Fear. Joy. Pain. These emotions have no borders or bias, no specific target or scope. Every race, gender, culture, and religious group is familiar with these essential human emotions. How enlightening is it to realize that we are all connected, each one of us at the mercy of our innate emotional… Read more »