Looking Bravely: Eliminating Blinding Trachoma in Mali

Helen Keller staff member taking notes in a clinic corridor with healthcare workers.We recently spoke with Benoit Dembélé who is our Regional Technical Advisor for Neglected Tropical Diseases in West Africa. Benoit helps Helen Keller Intl’s teams across Africa ensure quality treatment to prevent and eliminate neglected tropical diseases.[...]

Building Brighter Futures by Saving Sight

Schoolgirl wearing eyeglasses in a blue uniform stands outside a rustic school building in a rural areaBy the time she was six years old, Treasure Winner Mafau Azemafack’s family had already fled violence three times. Originally from Fontem in Cameroon’s South West region, Treasure Winner, her parents, and three siblings eventually settled on Dschang,[...]

Sweet Potatoes: Nutrition, Economic Security, and Inspiration

Woman in colorful clothing kneeling in a garden, caring for young vegetable plants with labeled rows.In her village in west central Burkina Faso, 34-year-old Kacoara Dahourou, a mother of four, knows firsthand the hardships of financial insecurity and hunger. Growing nutritious foods in a region that receives little rain – and finding affordable foods[...]

How Baking Bread is Changing Lives: The Success of Sweet Potatoes

Five men standing outside holding multiple bags of bread, smiling and raising their hands in celebration.Five years ago, a difficult economic situation forced Thaimu Banugura to leave his hometown, Jaiama Nimikoro Kono, in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Despite having completed his West African Certificate Exams to graduate from secondary school, Thaimu[...]

Women at the heart of our work 

Mother gives child a vitamin A supplement in outdoor setting.Women are the cornerstones of many families. They oversee home life — raising the children, preparing meals, even fetching water — and they bear responsibility for part, if not all, of their families’ livelihoods. In times of struggle, women often put[...]

Meet Mollika: 17-Year-Old Award-Winning Farmer 

Smiling young woman in colorful traditional clothes proudly showing gold medal in rural garden setting.Nothing can stop rising star Mollika Biswas, an award-winning farmer. The 17-year-old lives with her parents and her older brother in a small village in the Satkhira region of Bangladesh. Two years ago, Mollika embarked on a health and nutrition journey with[...]

A Friendly Competition Helps Eliminate Trachoma

Group of people standing outside in a rural setting in front of a borehole and water tower with Helen Keller Intl logo on it.Hawa Sissoko is a housewife in Kéréko, a small village in Mali. She, like many of her neighbors, would have to walk more than 10 miles each way to have access to clean water. Without clean water, diseases like trachoma can run rampant, and serious illness[...]