Africa Asia Middle East عربي Français PlusNews Film & TV Radio Photo Subscribe Site Map



humanitarian news and analysis
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Advanced search
 Friday 21 November 2008 Latest reports:
 
Home 
Africa 
Asia 
Middle East 
Blog 
Weekly reports 
Global Issues 
Interviews 
In-Depth reports 
Maps 
IRIN jobs 
Most popular 
Really Simple Syndication Feeds 
About IRIN 
Donors 
Subscriptions 
Contact IRIN 
 
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 [archive more testimonies »
"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
"There is no one and no tribe that is safe"
Jacquelyn Ingenda Himana is one of 12,000 Congolese refugees who thought her chances for survival might be better in Uganda than in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where fighting among rebel factions and the army has displaced more than 250,000 people.
full testimony
Kingsley Sibanda, "You feel like a bandit fighting a sitting government"
All Zimbabwean journalists are required to register with the state-appointed media board that vets applicants. Kingsley Sibanda (not his real name), 30, is struggling to survive as an unaccredited freelance journalist writing for foreign publications.
full testimony
Asia [archive 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 [archive 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
Share:

Services:  Africa | Asia | Middle East | PlusNews | Radio | Film & TV | Photo | E-mail subscription
Feedback | E-mail Webmaster | Terms & Conditions | Really Simple Syndication News Feeds | About IRIN | Bookmark IRINnews | Donors

Copyright © IRIN 2008. All rights reserved.
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.