Rewarding with praise

This piece is about female condoms. I bring them up for discussion because they are currently out of the limelight. When they first appeared, they seemed full of promise – a method of protection against pregnancy and HIV which could be used and controlled by women. In practice they pose problems – including the fact that they are a bit of a joke. So this is a reminder of the key facts and issues.

You may have seen the design for a slow cooker which cooks beans in 12 hours, using thick insulation and the sun’s heat? Now an NGO in Sudan has developed a refrigerating “zeer” pot which stores 10 kg of food for up to 20 days! Go to practicalaction.org – you will also find a video on the donkey cart ambulance, which has helped women in child births that have gone wrong to get to where they can be helped.

We have received a paper on silicosis from Aung Ko Ko, now with UNDP in Myanmar (Burma) and with a background in Public Health. He reminds us of all the occupational diseases which continue to cripple and kill in the Developing Countries. The West had silicosis and other killers of the Industrial Revolution, illnesses like mill fever and phossy jaw that went away with Trades Unions and forward-thinking legislation, with laws and inspections and owners (occasionally) imprisoned. But for the workers of Myanmar still it goes on. > Poverty & occupational health: Silicosis

Our newest manual, Making a Research Plan , is now available for download. A Research Project is a good way to extend your career, keep yourself from losing your sanity, and enhance your job prospects. After research training, your attitude to everything you do in life will change. To be of maximum benefit to your career it is best if your research is directly related to an essential part of your work. Others have done it – so can you! This booklet explains how to set about it in easy steps.

Your NGO’s website is the most important vehicle for presenting your work, not least to donors. It needs to do the job properly. For NGOs in the South who need help upgrading an existing website, we at networklearning now offer a Free Website Critique – in addition to Low-cost Website upgrade & Editing Service s. For NGOs who have no budget for a site we also inform you how you can have a good, small website developed completely free of charge (via a partner organization), providing you can meet certain conditions. » Networklearning Services » Also see our short online guide to ‘ Setting up a website for your NGO ‘.

When children are abducted the links of their citizenship get broken. These links need to be repaired in order for them to become active, valuable and meaningful members of the community again. Margaret Angucia’s 2010 thesis, Broken Citizenship: Formerly abducted children and their social reintegration in northern Uganda (308 pages), differs from other publications in that it presents the subject from the perspectives of the children themselves and the community.