COVID-19

Education is the most powerful tool against child labor in ivory coast

Children in Ivory Coast engage in the worse forms of child labor, including harvesting cocoa and coffee. Although school is mandatory for children ages 6 to 16, approximately 23% of primary school-aged children and 41% of secondary-school-aged children are not enrolled in school, with the highest rates in the country’s North, Northwest, and West regions.
“Today, we must force children to go to school. Sometimes, we even must get them in the field. Once, I had to ask one of my inspections and a teacher to come with me to the field. As a result, we found 15 children working and brought them back to school,” explains Sylvain Douhouretagoh, Inspector of Primary Education in Korhogo.

first screening of acclaimed documentary “unguarded” in an american prison

The first showing of Unguarded will take place on May 27, 2021 at the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office Transitional Work Program in Louisiana. The documentary chronicles APAC’s (Association for the Protection and Assistance of Convicts) revolutionary method for prison system transformation that’s centered on the full recovery and rehabilitation of the person.

time with their children and helping with homework make mothers stronger in Mexico

At first, Margarita and Griselda thought the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge they were not ready to face.
“COVID changed our lives. At first, we lost our jobs; we had to lock ourselves up. My children couldn’t go to school, and I had to be a teacher for them, and check their homework,” says Margarita.
“I used to wash, cook and clean while children were at school, but once they were home all the time and I had to check their homework, the house was a chaos, and it was very stressful for them, and for me” echoes Griselda.

stories of new beginnings: from fighting malnutrition to raising healthy twins

When they were one and a half years old, Moreen and Doreen were so small, frail, sick, and tired that they could barely sit up on their own. The twins’ chance of survival was alarmingly low.
Scovia Arinaitwe, their mother had experienced firsthand how quickly a child’s health can turn, but she did not realize what the cause might be. Florence Kabacwa, USAID Graduating to Resilience Activity nutrition coach took one look at the twins and knew what the problem was: malnutrition. As part of the USAID-funded Activity, thousands of families are visited by AVSI Foundation coaches in South Western Uganda every day.

avsi distributes food to families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in italy

In January, AVSI Foundation, in partnership with the Red Cross and the City of Milan, will distribute 68 tons of food to 12,000 people (4,500 families) who are going through financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative is part of the project Building Hope: Emergency support for hospitals and vulnerable families in Italy affected by COVID-19, implemented by AVSI with funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“With this project, we are bringing to Italy AVSI’s experience working in emergencies around the world,” says Giampaolo Silvestri, Secretary General of AVSI Foundation. “AVSI is accompanying the most vulnerable, those financially and psychologically exhausted by the crisis. In collaboration with the City of Milan and local partners, we have created a network to respond to the most urgent needs while working on restarting the Italian economy after COVID-19.”

Crisis in Manaus: Agricultural School surviving in midst of alarming COVID-19 case numbers and oxygen shortage

The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting Manaus again. With a record number of hospitalizations, deaths, and burials in January, the second wave of the new coronavirus is much worse than the first. This is likely due to a combination of factors: First, a new, more contagious strain of the virus. Second, because the population decided not to follow safety protocols in place during the first wave.

AVSI responds to the health crisis and provides support for the “new poor” in Italy

AVSI has launched a new project to support Italy’s response to COVID-19 entitled, “Building Hope”. This multi-sectoral project will allow for investments in telemedicine and at-home rehabilitation for patients with acute post-COVID conditions, together with the Sacco Hospital of Milan, and improved diagnostic capacity for COVID testing, leading to a significant reduction in false negative tests at the Civil Hospital in Brescia. Furthermore, the project will provide concrete help to families who are facing unemployment and the loss of income, as well as those who are struggling to ensure that their children have access to education due to lack of appropriate technology and internet connectivity.