HelpAge International
This is the blog of HelpAge International, a global network striving for the rights of older people. The organisation has been working since 1983 to improve the lives of disadvantaged older people.
Older people struggle as "survival of the fittest" rules in northern Kenya
Stephen Barrett has just returned from Kenya where he worked in HelpAge International's Africa office. A group of young men jeered when they saw the HelpAge International logo on the side of our vehicle: "Here come the old people's organisation! We have lots of old people here - what are you going to do for them?" ...
Walking the path of the elderly in Bulengo camp
Benedicte Vene is a freelance communications consultant who has worked in the voluntary sector for over three years. Prior to this she was a television researcher on factual documentaries which included reporting from Rwanda and DR Congo during the 1994 genocide. She returned to the DRC in February 2009 on behalf of Help the Aged and HelpAge International. All photos taken by Benedicte Vene. Lost in thick bush approximately 30km (18.8 miles) from Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Bulengo camp was set up a year ago and is home to 27,603 internally displaced people (IDP). There are only 205 older people here - 55 men and150 women, mainly widows. Most of them are living alone without their family. ...
Yes, people over 50 have sex too
Richard Blewitt, chief executive of aid agency HelpAge International, marks U.N. International Day of Older People. According to the U.N., this is a day when age should be celebrated, when older people's contribution to society should be recognised and applauded. ...
Traditional Myanmar rice style hurts older people
Retired doctor Maung Maung Shien, 75, reports on working with HelpAge International in Kyaik Lat and Dedaye townships on the Irrawaddy Delta after it was devastated by a cyclone in May. HelpAge is the only international agency providing health care services tailored to the needs of older people in these areas. The sun has not yet risen as we begin loading boxes of medicines from the office in Yangon out into the car. Alongside me are four nurses, four junior doctors and Dr. Aung Thu, an old colleague who invited me to join HelpAge International's mobile medical units after Cyclone Nargis struck. ...
AID WORKER DIARY: Elderly vulnerable after Myanmar cyclone
As in all disasters, it's the older people who are last in line to get help in Myanmar. We estimate some 208,000 people of advanced years were affected by Cyclone Nargis. They have particular difficulty reaching aid distribution points or carrying relief goods - if they can get to them at all. They have special medical and nutritional needs that often go unrecognised. It's a 30 minute drive from Yangon to the village where HelpAge Korea and HelpAge International work in collaboration with the YMCA to deliver a home care programme for older people. We wanted to see how older villagers were coping. ...
