When 20-year-old Marciana was in high school, she got pregnant and had to quit school. After a few years, as is often the case with unplanned marriages that result from unplanned pregnancies, her husband left her, Marciana moved back to her parent’s house, which also home to her 11 siblings. No one in the family, […]
Before joining Timor Zero Hunger activities with CWS, 33-year-old Julio de Jesus liked to joke that he only planted weeds in his garden. “I didn’t know how to plant vegetables properly, nor was I in a farmers group”, he said. But after he joined a simple ag information and skill-building session, Julio learned how to […]
This story tells U Aung Myint’s journey, on which CWS has accompanied him since we met him in 2015 when his village, Auk Htone, was flooded and CWS gave material support to families who needed help. Since then, when we first met U Aung, he has been an active community member. He has been the […]
Amansio dos Santos, his wife, five children and four grandchildren live in a small bamboo hut in the mountains of Liquiçá on the north coast of Timor-Leste. They are subsistence farmers, growing pumpkin, cassava, chili and corn. When they have extra produce, they sell locally. With this money, the family buys instant noodles – because […]
When CWS staff first visited Gariana hamlet, we were surprised at how many challenges the community faced to get basic health care. For two years, we learned, no one had access to government-guaranteed Integrated Community Health Services, that are meant to bring doctors and other health care workers, and vital vaccinations, to rural families nationwide. […]
During the six- or seven-month dry season in her southwest Myanmar village, Ma Bo Ma, who is 25 years old, works as day laborer. But for five or six months each rainy season, she is jobless. Her 27-year-old husband is Ko Oo, and he earns a living as a carpenter during the dry season and […]
Lucia Martins lives with her mother, husband, two children, and 10 siblings in a modest bamboo house in rural Timor-Lest – Liquisa village about several miles outside Dili. And, even though the village is not all that far, distance-wise, from the country’s capital city, it is light years away in terms of socioeconomic development. This […]
As its government’s integrated community health service, SISCa brings care to communities across Timor-Leste. Mothers and young children are among health service staff priorities. Weighing and vaccinating under-fives is a key aim according to Augusto Guterres, a long-time Ministry of Health worker. Back in 2008 Augusto was named SISCa Program Coordinator in Liquisa, where he […]
In 2017, Ma Ei Chaw and her day laborer husband took a 130,000 Kyat loan from a CWS-initiated community development fund. Their goal was to improve their two young sons’ nutrition, which has assessed to be quite poor. Surprised by this, Ma Ei Chaw was determined to change things – and she did! First, the […]