Working on a taboo subject can be isolating and demoralising and, as evidenced by the experience of some Girls Not Brides members focused on ending child marriage within their communities, even life-threatening. Until a few years ago, child marriage was such …
Girls who are educated, healthy and free can transform their communities and pass on the benefits to their children, and to their children’s children.
I've been back in the UK for five days, during which I've desperately missed Ethiopia. The last few weeks of my time there were hectic, but incredible: here are some highlights from that period. All the female members of the …
When his Boomtown Rats career was arguably past its zenith, Bob Geldof came to global prominence with Live Aid, demanding that the world focus and do something about the terrible mid-1980s famine in Ethiopia. At the time I was a …
The Ethiopian population is approximately 35% Muslim and 65% Christian. While this kind of religious mix has caused bitter conflict in numerous countries around the world, the two faiths live in relative harmony here. My counterpart national volunteer, Hana, has …
It's difficult to grasp that we're now over halfway through our stay in this exciting city. The time has passed so quickly, yet preparing for my departure from leafy Surrey feels like a distant memory now. We travelled to Lake …
No walk in Addis is dull. A multitude of sights, smells and sounds confronts your senses on a daily basis. During a five-minute stroll, you could be approached by a street child trying to sell you a stick for brushing …
I'm a time-traveller. It is currently 2004 here in Ethiopia, as they use their own unique calendar. This is just one of a wealth of facts that have emerged during my first two weeks in this fascinatingly different community. The …
"What's an Ethiopian?" cried a 14-year-old girl during a boisterous lunch break at my Surrey school. I remember it well: my friends and I ridiculed her, yet, at that stage, none of us knew much about what being an Ethiopian …
So many of us taking part in Blog Action Day this year will have seen the Horn of Africa food crisis unfold on our computers or televisions. Yet it is difficult to get a true sense of the scale and …
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