Sweet Potatoes: Nutrition, Economic Security, and Inspiration

A woman with dark skin kneels on the ground behind rows of small plants. She is wearing a bright orange shirt and a floral print skirt, with a baby on her back in a striped wrap.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 young black men hold up bags of bread and rolls. they are standing outside with some buildings and trees in the background.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.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[...]

Koinadugu Women Fight Hidden Hunger through Farming

Woman holding a rooted vegetable.On a frosty Sunday morning, a group of farmers wearing brightly colored African waist scarves, called lappas, gather together in front of Haja Conteh’s house in the Koinadugu district of Sierra Leone. The all-women farmers group, called “Denkola Two[...]

From Vitamin A Skeptic to True Believer 

Young boy with mother and father.Four-year-old Abdoul Aziz Coulibaly was always sick, until his family discovered vitamin A. Abdoul is the youngest of four siblings living with their parents in a small village called Massala in south-central Mali. Though the family has limited financial[...]

Taking Action to Combat Hunger 

Child being measured to quickly determine if a patient is acutely malnourished.In just three years, the ravages of COVID-19 reversed decades of progress in the fight against malnutrition. Compounded by the damaging effects of climate change and armed conflicts, most notably in Ukraine, this crisis fuels increased threats of famine in[...]

3 Things to be Optimistic about in 2023

Nepalese mothers celebrating with food. Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. Helen Keller Just like Helen Keller herself, many of the families Helen Keller Intl works with face staggering odds that can seem insurmountable – from food[...]

Going the distance to ensure lifesaving vitamin A  

Pamela and her childrenIt’s a bright and sunny day in Mbalmayo, Cameroon, and youthful laughter fills the air. There’s joy in children’s voices as they call to one another playfully, sharing stories of their activities at school.  I know the importance of vitamin A, how[...]