Latest Blog Entries

Teachers and students in Rwanda are learning to write their own stories, creating culturally relevant materials for other young readers to share. A similar literacy program in Mali is creating a culture of reading supported by oral and written storytelling in thousands of classrooms. While both approaches put writing at the heart of reading instruction, each program has been customized to meet its country’s specific literacy education needs.

In Kenya’s urban slums, an ambitious effort is under way to meet the reproductive health care needs of women who struggle to receive the most basic medical care. The project strives to reach women where they live, employing innovative approaches like mobile health clinics, mothers’ support groups and teams of community health workers going door to door. What also distinguishes this project in today’s environment of foreign aid debates and tight budgets is the dynamic group of public and private partners committed to its success.

Waing (the name has been changed to protect her identity) did not understand where her strength came from. Her exhausted legs still tried to keep moving and followed the narrow path between the mountains. The chilling wind and hunger could not stop her as she was determined to go home.

“I kept telling myself that I [must] go home and I must see my father’s face before I die.”

President Obama has been a strong supporter of foreign aid throughout his first term, which is not surprising for someone who spent part of his childhood in developing countries and was the son of a development expert. But unlike his predecessor, he has yet to translate his support into an enduring legacy.