Ask anyone who has lost someone they cherished: time does not necessarily heal. It might be more realistic to say that over the years, we are fortunate if we learn how to manage the pain of bereavement. But when people witness a violent death, no one should expect deep psychological wounds to vanish. Survivors of the Holocaust may […]

The fact that you are on the Network for Africa mailing list means you are unusual. Opinion polls show that many people in the UK and USA are hostile to foreign aid. For decades, populist media have peddled myths and exaggerations about the misuse of taxpayers’ money. Unfortunately, genuine examples of waste and incompetence have […]

You might not associate the godfather of shock rock with feminism, but Alice (real name Vincent Furnier) had something profound to say on the subject. When he wrote his 1975 hit ballad “Only Women Bleed” he wasn’t simply making an anatomical observation about gender. Alice was also referring to domestic violence and the psychological pain endured by women, […]

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that if you are on Network for Africa’s mailing list, you are probably an internationalist. In other words, you believe that humans make progress when they work together to solve the world’s challenges, spreading peace, knowledge and prosperity. Instead of hating or fearing different cultures, you are self-confident about […]

As is often the case, William Shakespeare got to the heart of the matter: “Make not your thoughts your prisons,” (Antony & Cleopatra). A more contemporary version might be, “You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” Either way, you might think this advice is just common sense. Yet, what […]

This fragment of wisdom comes from Helen Keller, who had her share of challenges. Born in 1880 in Alabama, she was blind and deaf. Yet, she went to Harvard (in itself, an achievement for a woman at that time) and became a tireless campaigner for disability rights. Keller’s words describe the vision guiding our long-time Rwandan partner […]

The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well. An Austrian psychologist called Dr Alfred Adler made that observation in the early 20th century. It deserves a wider audience because so many unhappy people would benefit from knowing they are not unique or alone in their unhappiness. World Mental Health Day October […]

The International Day of Peace is a good moment to consider the words of the French philosopher Blaise Pascal. Four hundred years ago, he wrote: All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone. Every day at Network for Africa, we confront the consequences of peoples’ inability to refrain […]

We drive up a rough, rutted road of red dirt to a simple, rectangular, breeze-block building with a corrugated iron roof – the community meeting place or village hall. The sound of roosters crowing drifts across the valley, along with the aromatic smoke from cooking fires. Below us on the valley floor, women in dazzling […]

For twenty years, we have worked in Rwanda. Yet, we have been aware there is also great need for what we offer in the less well-known country next door, Burundi. Like Rwanda, it is green and mountainous, with most of its population depending on subsistence agriculture. It exports coffee, tea and fish, and it had […]