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Saturday 22 November 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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"In the street, when we pass, people spit"
		In Senegal people with albinism are marginalised and find little support for coping with the daily challenges of their condition. IRIN spoke with four people with albinism in the capital Dakar. full testimony
Aunesi Saidi Omari: "In South Africa I'm not safe, and in my country I'm not safe"
		Aunesi Saidi Omari lives in the Philippi township of Cape Town, South Africa. A refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, she was a victim of the xenophobic violence that hit South Africa in May 2008. Afraid of going back to the local community, she is now unsure of her future. full testimony
Abdallah Afrah, "The bullet continued straight into my younger brother's head"
		Somali shopkeeper Abdallah Aman Afrah, 35, has lived in South Africa for five years, but the death of his younger brother, Abdul Kadir Ahmed, in a robbery at their shop in the Langa township of Cape Town, has convinced him to return home. Somalis have been particular victims of xenophobic violence, with the worst outbreak occurring in May 2008. full testimony

Asia	[ more testimonies »]

Min Min U, Myanmar: "We thought we were all going to die"
		We were terrified. We thought we were all going to die. But all we could do was sit on the remaining shattered pieces of wood in the torrential rain. full testimony
Kyaw Sein: “I don’t know how I will survive”
		Of the 2.4 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis, about 700,000 are over 55, according to HelpAge International. And while most live with their families, many – like 86-year-old Kyaw Sein – do not. full testimony
Saber Ahmed: "I said, 'the island is sinking' but my brother refused to leave"
		In 1991 a cyclone killed 22,000 people on Kutubdia Island in the Bay of Bengal, off the coastal town of Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh. Saber Ahmed, 45, now lives in a settlement for "environmental refugees" from the island. full testimony

Middle East

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more testimonies »]

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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