In LIBERIA, West Africa, millions of children are at risk of malnutrition. By combining two key components of aid and developement - food/nutrition with education - lives are being transformed. Simply by providing a hot meal for youngsters at their place of education. For many it means they will attend school for the first time and receive something to eat. One agency backing this kind of initiative is UK charity Mary's Meals.
A short film explains how the concept works in one village
Following the 2005 earthquake Andrew worked in-country for several years supporting aid and development across the mountains of the north-west, Pakistan administered Kashmir, and the Punjab.
This involved story-telling, reporting and some project implementation.
A couple of reports are featured below, which provide an insight into the work:
In CALAIS, France, thousands of refugees had gathered, seeking safety in the UK. They had fled persecution and conflict around the world, from countries including Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and from more than a dozen African nations.
And there they waited at an illegal emcampment known as 'The Jungle', hoping for a better life, hounded by the authorities, demonised and improverished, many having arrived after travelling thousands of miles with only the clothes on their back.
Eventually, in 2016, they saw their temporary shacks bulldozed into the mud by the French authorities and most were forcibly removed to 'dispersal centres' across France. And yet still the refugees head for Calais...
From the lush mountains at its centre, to the arid plains sweeping westward towards the Sudanese border, then east into
the semi-tropical humidity of Red Sea coastline, Eritrea, like its peoples, is a land of contradictions. Here on the Horn of Africa
the threads of Arab, African and European cultures weave a rich tapestry of life under timeless skies dating back millennia.
Left and above: The highlands at the heart of the country
provide a relatively cool, lush and fertile landscape.
Above: Indefinite periods of military conscription are a major cause of migration. Right: A woman from the Arabic Rashaida tribe, whose settlements stretch from Eritrea into The Sudan.
Right: Shida Square, marking the long war of independence and (far right) a young woman tends to her goats on the parched plains.
Left: A traditional thatched dwelling in the shadow of the mountains and (above) Asmara, the country's capital.
