Joanne Offer
Joanne Offer is regional media manager in the Horn and East Africa with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). She has worked in Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan and now East Africa as a print and radio journalist and communications specialist.
Trained villagers help fight malaria in South Sudan
Author: Joanne Offer
This rainy season will bring sweet relief to many in Southern Sudan - from the farmers who've just planted this year's crop, to the villagers who've seen their water supply evaporate during the long, harsh dry season. Yet it won't be all good. The rains will almost inevitably bring flooding to huge areas of low-lying Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, creating ideal conditions for diseases like malaria to flourish.
As I drive from the town of Aweil to the smaller outpost of Malualkon, the countryside is barely unrecognizable from a previous trip here after last year's rains. Today, it's dry and dusty as far as the eye can see, unlike last time when the sides of the roads were water-logged and huge pools stood stagnant along most of the 45-minute drive.
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Author: Joanne Offer
This rainy season will bring sweet relief to many in Southern Sudan - from the farmers who've just planted this year's crop, to the villagers who've seen their water supply evaporate during the long, harsh dry season. Yet it won't be all good. The rains will almost inevitably bring flooding to huge areas of low-lying Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, creating ideal conditions for diseases like malaria to flourish.
As I drive from the town of Aweil to the smaller outpost of Malualkon, the countryside is barely unrecognizable from a previous trip here after last year's rains. Today, it's dry and dusty as far as the eye can see, unlike last time when the sides of the roads were water-logged and huge pools stood stagnant along most of the 45-minute drive.
...
Helping refugee women help themselves in Nairobi
Author: Joanne Offer
Kenya is currently home to some of the largest refugee camps in the world - Dadaab alone houses a population of around 238,000. But Kenya's cities have also seen their numbers swelled as refugee men, women and children seek safety there. Sadly, as the IRC has found in Nairobi, life in exile is not always easy and female refugees in particular can find themselves vulnerable to abuse or exploitation. As one Ethiopian woman recounts: "Here in Eastleigh, Nairobi, there's always the threat of rape, attack or police harassment. The government says we should go to Kakuma refugee camp, but we stay in Nairobi because there are more opportunities here. Kakuma is just too close to Ethiopia. We wouldn't feel safe there." ...
Author: Joanne Offer
Kenya is currently home to some of the largest refugee camps in the world - Dadaab alone houses a population of around 238,000. But Kenya's cities have also seen their numbers swelled as refugee men, women and children seek safety there. Sadly, as the IRC has found in Nairobi, life in exile is not always easy and female refugees in particular can find themselves vulnerable to abuse or exploitation. As one Ethiopian woman recounts: "Here in Eastleigh, Nairobi, there's always the threat of rape, attack or police harassment. The government says we should go to Kakuma refugee camp, but we stay in Nairobi because there are more opportunities here. Kakuma is just too close to Ethiopia. We wouldn't feel safe there." ...
Dusty, challenging times in eastern Chad
Author: Joanne Offer
Imagine working on a windswept beach. There would be sand in your eyes, your ears, your nose. It would cover your laptop, your notes, your camera, your everything. And no matter how many times you cleaned it off, it would be back again in the blink of an eye. That's what it's like to work in dusty, baking hot, eastern Chad. (Only without the ocean to cool off in.) The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has just started operating in Bredjing camp, which is about 70km from the Sudanese border and home to 31,000 Darfuri refugees who've fled the fighting there. The nearest Chadian town is Hadjer Hadid, which has the feeling of a place time and the government forgot - sand roads, little infrastructure and a rundown local health center. Given the remoteness, the area is prone to roadside robberies which means we travel to the camp in convoy for extra security. It's just one of the challenges of delivering aid to such an outlying area, along with having to bring in supplies from the capital Ndjamena, which can take two days by road or two flights. ...
Author: Joanne Offer
Imagine working on a windswept beach. There would be sand in your eyes, your ears, your nose. It would cover your laptop, your notes, your camera, your everything. And no matter how many times you cleaned it off, it would be back again in the blink of an eye. That's what it's like to work in dusty, baking hot, eastern Chad. (Only without the ocean to cool off in.) The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has just started operating in Bredjing camp, which is about 70km from the Sudanese border and home to 31,000 Darfuri refugees who've fled the fighting there. The nearest Chadian town is Hadjer Hadid, which has the feeling of a place time and the government forgot - sand roads, little infrastructure and a rundown local health center. Given the remoteness, the area is prone to roadside robberies which means we travel to the camp in convoy for extra security. It's just one of the challenges of delivering aid to such an outlying area, along with having to bring in supplies from the capital Ndjamena, which can take two days by road or two flights. ...
A time of cholera in Southern Sudan
Author: Joanne Offer
I'm standing outside a typical village church. But today its mud walls and thatched roof are offering a different kind of sanctuary - it's being used as a makeshift centre to treat suspected cholera patients from the surrounding area.
Inside, three women lie on mats on the dirt floor. They're hooked up to IV drips and seem to be making a good recovery, but I'm told that a young boy died here last night. His body went into convulsions because he didn't have enough fluids in his system. There was nothing the local nurse could do.
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Author: Joanne Offer
I'm standing outside a typical village church. But today its mud walls and thatched roof are offering a different kind of sanctuary - it's being used as a makeshift centre to treat suspected cholera patients from the surrounding area.
Inside, three women lie on mats on the dirt floor. They're hooked up to IV drips and seem to be making a good recovery, but I'm told that a young boy died here last night. His body went into convulsions because he didn't have enough fluids in his system. There was nothing the local nurse could do.
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What makes a Ugandan warrior lay down his gun?
Author: Joanne Offer
What makes a warrior lay down his gun? I got the intriguing chance to find out when I met the Nadunget peace committee - a group of 40 or so men and women, many of whom were once involved in or affected by armed raids, but who now promote peace across Moroto district in the Karamoja region of northern Uganda.
The committee members go to nearby villages to sing peace songs, play out dramas and use their own experiences to explain why fighting benefits no one. Women who've been widowed by raiding talk of the emotional and financial hardship of losing their loved ones. Children who've been orphaned tell others that life is precious. It's heartbreaking stuff to hear.
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Author: Joanne Offer
What makes a warrior lay down his gun? I got the intriguing chance to find out when I met the Nadunget peace committee - a group of 40 or so men and women, many of whom were once involved in or affected by armed raids, but who now promote peace across Moroto district in the Karamoja region of northern Uganda.
The committee members go to nearby villages to sing peace songs, play out dramas and use their own experiences to explain why fighting benefits no one. Women who've been widowed by raiding talk of the emotional and financial hardship of losing their loved ones. Children who've been orphaned tell others that life is precious. It's heartbreaking stuff to hear.
...
