Articles

  • Seven years in Haiti – 22 000 children got earthquake-resistant safe learning spaces

    St Matthew's school was the first permenent school that FCA reconstructed in HAiti after the earthquake

    Seven years ago an earthquake destroyed homes and schools in Haiti. It was the starting point of Finn Church Aid’s largest humanitarian operation up to then; an operation that allowed thousands of children to return to school and continue their education. What will be the legacy of that work? A devastating earthquake hit Haiti in […]

  • Football breaks down walls in society

    Football facilitates integration into society better than any other process. No matter how differently society treats individuals; players on a football pitch are all equal. The atmosphere in the reception centre at the Olympic Stadium in Munich was dejected and tense as a record number of over one million asylum seekers arrived in Germany in […]

  • Breaking the cycles of revenge one by one

    FCA peace worker John Bongei underlines that peace is brought about by the will of the locals. “I can bring food to the peace meetings, so people have something to eat. But I don’t carry peace in my back pocket that I could simply hand out.”

    John Bongei is building peace on the savannahs of northwest Kenya. It’s a work that requires time and trust. We saved human lives in this forest, says 45-year-old John Bongei and points to the left, where a vast savannah spreads out as far as the eye can see. No signs of human settlement can be […]

  • Former tribal enemies learning to become good neighbours

    The relationship between the Pokot and Markwet tribes is difficult. During the past year, fighting between the two has taken dozens of lives. Finn Church Aid is helping to build peace between the tribes.

  • Rebuilt schools are the pride of village communities – FCA constructs safe school buildings for 44,000

    “I’m not worried about a new earthquake”, says 8-year-old Manjali Shah. “I know what to do.” Two years ago, massive earthquakes in Nepal destroyed thousands of schools depriving one million children of a place of education. The almost one hundred-year-old school in Shah’s home village Bhimphed was severely damaged in the first earthquake at the […]

  • The man at the heart of the largest refugee crisis in Africa

    The Ugandan Refugee Commissioner David Apollo Kazungu visited Finn Church Aid in Helsinki, Finland, in April.

    In Uganda, refugees are immediately granted the right to education and work, says Ugandan Refugee Commissioner David Apollo Kazungu. He is coordinating Uganda’s response to Africa’s largest refugee crisis. In 2016, more refugees crossed the border to Uganda than crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Their numbers totalled in over one million. Most came from […]

  • War-torn South Sudan hit by another calamity – famine also looms in urban communities

    People are dying from hunger in South Sudan as more than half of its population suffers from an urgent lack of food. The conflict has forced farmers to abandon their fields, and the cost of basic food commodities increase daily.

  • Developing education in Eritrea begins with teachers

    “When I graduate, I want to help those who are less fortunate, particularly the homeless”, says Ariam Yosief (left), here with Soliana Mebrahtu (centre) and Saroju Zeru.

    Eritrea is in need of quality teachers, particularly in rural regions, where up to 80 percent of the country’s population live. Certain elements of the Finnish education system could benefit Eritrea as well. An English class is under way for second graders at the Sewra primary school in the Eritrean capital Asmara. “Jerry can, jerry […]

  • “Only education can save our children from poverty”

    Tu-Myaung Village in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta was hit hard by cyclone Nargis in 2008. Nwe Kyi was thankful her family of six survived the disaster. But life was harsh. Although her husband Ko* Maung Kyi, 50, worked hard as a laborer in paddy fields and Daw** Nwe Kyi, 49, exhausted herself for a meager wage transplanting […]

  • Eritrea wants motivated teachers – Finnish education as an example

    Eritrean teacher educators at Finn Church AId office in October 2016.

    In Finland, the government allocates sufficient funds to education. Teachers are motivated and their profession is respected. In these respects, Eritrea could learn from the Finnish experience, says Abraham Belay, senior lecturer at the College of Education at the Eritrean Institute of Technology. Belay is one of five Eritrean teacher educators, who got to know […]