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Tuesday 07 October 2008

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Hear our Voices

A forum for people whose voices are often not heard, whose lives have been affected by catastrophe, be it natural or manmade. Many have been abused and denied their universal human rights; others have seen their livelihoods washed away by floods or lost to drought. Their personal accounts are a testimony to their struggle and their hope for a better future. Stories from aid workers offer a glimpse into the relationships between victims of humanitarian crises and the people who help them.

IRIN welcomes editorial and photographic submissions for inclusion on this page, reserving the right to select and edit as appropriate.

Africa

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more testimonies »]

Abubakar, "This tree has been my home for years"
		He only has one name, Abubakar, given to him by others who live on the streets of Mombasa. But unlike them, the teenager has no recollection of a previous, more sheltered life and no knowledge of any relatives or their whereabouts. He spoke to IRIN on 21 September full testimony
Denise Nzohabonayo: "We are here because we have no land to go to"
		Denise Nzohabonayo, a mother of four, was repatriated from Nduta refugee camp in Tanzania in July 2008 to the Nyabitare transit site near Ruyigi in eastern Burundi. After a month, stranded and with no home to return to, Nzohabonayo left Nyabitare for Muriza Butaganzwa commune, also in Ruyigi, in the hope that she would finally get some permanent shelter for her family. Being a landless returnee is not easy, as Nzohabonayo told IRIN. full testimony
Makoanyane Letsoara: "I want to be able to help others who don't have food."
		Makoanyane Letsoara, a subsistence farmer in Ha Tsiu, a village 100km east of Maseru, capital of Lesotho, is in his forties and the sole supporter of his family of six - his mother, wife, children and younger siblings. full testimony

Asia	[ more testimonies »]

Sharifa, “If we had roads, cars and clinics in our village… my baby would not have died”
		Sharifa, 23, was banded on a wooden ladder and taken to a hospital in Faizabad, the provincial capital of Badakhshan Province, northeastern Afghanistan, where she gave birth to a stillborn child and was told that she would never have children again. full testimony
May Thet, Myanmar, “I feel like crying when I see my friends going to school”
		Three months after Cyclone Nargis struck, most of the estimated 2.4 million storm-affected people are still struggling to rebuild their lives. May Thet, a teenage girl, has become the chief family breadwinner, collecting empty water bottles to sell in Mawlamyinekyun, one of the hardest-hit areas. full testimony
Soe Soe, Myanmar: "Life is totally bleak"
		That night I went into labour in a small bamboo, thatched house on the banks of the Pyapon River to deliver my first child. But as the wind roared, my husband and I struggled outside only to see our home destroyed right before our very eyes. full testimony

Middle East

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Ibrahim Sayyid, Syria: “You have to study hard to escape life in a tent”
		When my father began to receive death threats from a Shia militia, we decided that living in the desert was safer than being Palestinian in Baghdad. He bought a tent and we left along with my four siblings in the summer of 2006." full testimony
Abed Akkawi, Lebanon: "I couldn’t pay the full bill so they wouldn’t let my wife leave the hospital"
		Eventually I told the [hospital] authorities I had divorced my wife because I knew that was the only way they would stop coming after me. The hospital let Wafa go and she moved back to Syria and divorced me." full testimony
Ahmed Hassan, Lebanon: "It felt like a kind of resistance to celebrate and dance despite everything"
		When we celebrated our engagement during the 2006 July War, the Israelis bombed Abdeh, on the edge of Nahr al-Bared and we ended up in the shelters. Then the fighting delayed our wedding. full testimony

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This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Republication is subject to terms and conditions as set out in the IRIN copyright page.