Category: Health
Menstrual health: the essential universal passport
Have you ever thought about something that could be a universal passport? A passport to education; a passport to employment; a passport to positive mental health, to self-esteem? For me this is the sanitary pad! Here in Kenya many girls and women do not have access to sanitary pads – they stay home from school […]
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Healthy childhoods and making milestones – Maria Kidney reflects
Maria Kidney (Co-founder and Director) and Martin Ballantyne (CEO) have made the difficult decision to remain in Kenya this Christmas. There are too many reasons as to why they simply cannot leave…
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1,000 children need our help
When COVID-19 stop schools re-opening – what happens to the children? COVID-19 has brought about many challenges not least to the lives of the children across Kericho County. As we launch a fundraising campaign to support community based learning groups for the children, we asked Maria Kidney – (co-founder and director) who has remained in […]
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Smokeless Stoves in relation to climate action
Habari, my name is Freya Casey and I am a final year International Development and Food Policy student, in UCC. I am writing a piece on smokeless stoves and how they are helping the environment and the health of the communities where Brighter Communities Worldwide work. This blog is following on from my previous blog […]
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2020 International Year of the Nurse and Midwife
When I was asked early in the year to write a blog on being a nurse/midwife for World Health Day, I agreed without giving too much thought. I planned on writing a bit about my professional career as an Emergency Department nurse in Mercy University Hospital Cork and my volunteering experience with Brighter Communities Worldwide […]
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Climate change in Londiani
Jambo, my name is Freya Casey, and I am going into my final year of International Development and Food Policy in University College Cork (UCC). For my third year placement I am working with Brighter Communities Worldwide who does amazing work in Kenya, and have completed a pilot project in Uganda. In line with the […]
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Menstrual Hygiene Day 2019
1. What is your name and what is your role with Brighter Communities Worldwide? My name is Carol Galvin and I work as a Development Analyst in the Irish office of Brighter Communities Worldwide. As part of my role I source funding for our various programmes in Kenya and also report back to donors on […]
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Medical students join Harambee volunteers
Brighter Communities Worldwide currently have 4 volunteers who are studying medicine in University College Cork and on a placement with us for 4 weeks as part of the Surgeon Noonan student society. The volunteers – Fiona Murphy, Ciobha O Kelly, Emma Galvin and Chloe Spillane – have been on placement at Londiani Sub County Hospital, […]
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International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is part of the UN’s commitment to ending FGM in all its forms, all over the world. What is FGM? Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a harmful practice that involves removing all or part of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. FGM has no […]
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Carol Gavin’s presentation at the Water, Engineering and Development Centre International Conference
As part of my role with Brighter Communities Worldwide, I attended a conference hosted by the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) in Loughborough University in England from the 24th to the 28th of July. I was there to present a case study of our work in Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM). This case study explored and detailed […]
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Roisin, a third-year student on placement with Brighter Communities Worldwide
Jambo! My name is Roisin Dunne and I am a third-year student in International Development with Food Policy in UCC. As part of third year, we have the opportunity to go on placement with an NGO to get some real experience in the field we all hope to be working in in the future. I […]
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Vaccines save lives
Immunization saves millions of lives and is widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions. Today, there are still 19.4 million unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children in the world. 2017 marks the halfway point in the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) – endorsed by 194 Member States of the World Health Assembly […]
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