Looking Bravely: Promoting Equity in Global Health
We welcomed Sarah Bouchie as Helen Keller Intl’s President and CEO in January 2024. With nearly three decades of international development experience, Sarah has been both an implementer and advocate for prominent global nonprofits and a leader of the philanthropic investments that shape humanitarian and development efforts. She has held leadership roles at the LEGO […]
Championing Prenatal Vitamins in Sierra Leone
For nearly 10 years, Boncapri Sesay has served as a peer educator, providing counseling and guidance to pregnant and breastfeeding women in her own community. Regularly hosting a group that meets under a mango tree in her rural village in Sierra Leone’s Northern Province, she is keen to share her knowledge about the special health […]
Back to School: Helping Students Thrive with Clear Vision [Photo Essay]
As a new school year starts, students across the US are returning to the classroom, but too many will struggle because they can’t see clearly. Helen Keller Intl works with schools and community organizations in California, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York to provide vision screenings and prescription glasses to children and their families – […]
Speaking Technically: How the Climate Crisis is Driving a Nutrition Crisis
We recently spoke to Chief Program Officer Shawn Baker and Transforming Lives Program Director Philomena Orji about how the climate crisis is driving a nutrition crisis worldwide. Shawn leads Helen Keller’s efforts to strengthen food and health systems using scientifically proven solutions that are feasible, scalable, and equitable. Previously Helen Keller’s Country Director for Nigeria, […]
The Road to Nutrition for Growth
All eyes are on Paris as the world prepares to open the 2024 Olympic Games, a symbol of health, strength, and human potential. France is also preparing to host another global moment: The Nutrition for Growth Summit. This global pledging moment, first held following the 2012 London Olympics, brings together world leaders in governments, philanthropy, […]
Sierra Leone’s Fight Against Lymphatic Filariasis: Progress, Challenges, and Hope
This story was originally published on USAID’s Act to End Neglected Tropical Diseases | West Program website. It has been republished here with permission. Meet Kebie Koroma, a 14-year-old from the village of Kakamathor, located in Bombali district in the north of Sierra Leone. At the age of two, Kebie’s parents noticed something unusual on […]
Engaging Local Leaders to Fight Malnutrition in Cameroon
As a newborn, Rose Fenged’s nephew and godson, Wouffé, was malnourished and got sick frequently. Rose noticed that many other young children in her community in Cameroon’s Far North region were also underweight and likely not getting the nutrition they needed to support healthy growth and development. As Third Deputy Mayor for the Koza municipality, […]
Preventive Treatment Helps Build Healthy Futures for Children in Sierra Leone
Nurse Aminata Sama always dreamed of helping her community stay healthy. She thought her work would focus on helping people address minor health concerns and never imagined she would contribute to eliminating a devastating disease from Sierra Leone. One of three children, Aminata’s father was a security guard and her mother traded local palm oil. […]
Farming Expert Helps Displaced Nigerian Women Cultivate Food Security and Livelihoods
Rebecca Clement has been cultivating nutritious fruits and vegetables since she was a child. Growing up in a family of farmers in Garta, Nigeria, a small village in Adamawa state near the border with Cameroon, Rebecca began learning how to prepare soil for planting, to space and rotate crops, and to control diseases and pests […]
Saving Sight and Lives with Micro but Mighty Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a micronutrient that is critical to children’s growing bodies and brains. A single capsule of vitamin A – at a little more than $1 each – given to children twice a year until their fifth birthday can literally save their sight and lives. However, vitamin A-rich foods are also often either not […]
