Goal Blog http://www.goal.ie/ Goal Blog en-gb Copyright 2012 Goal. All Rights Reserved. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 9:06:49 GMT Goal http://www.goal.ie/images/goal-apple.png http://www.goal.ie/ There is a real energy and vitality in the Haitian people. This, in tandem with a stable, functioning government and effective external support, is the real key to successful development http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/115   Children inside their new GOAL-built shelter in Haiti Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:00:00 UTC Since we introduced the REFLECT programme in Sudan, many thousands of previously illiterate women and their families have benefitted http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/113   Two women taking part in GOAL's REFLECT Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:00:00 UTC Identification of early warning signs in pregnant women is essential. Maternal deaths here – at 2,000 fatalities per 100,000 births - are among the highest in the world http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/106    Women and children Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:00:00 UTC Suddenly, my possessions jumped off the shelves, as a small earthquake rippled through Kenya’s Rift Valley. It was my first night as a humanitarian aid worker. http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/102 “One night eight years ago, I found myself lying on a bed in Burundi, East Africa, listening to mortars pass overhead and watching arcs of tracer fire light up the night sky. Suddenly, my possessions jumped off the shelves, as a small earthquake rippled through Kenya’s Rift Valley. It was my first night as a humanitarian aid worker.  Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:00:00 UTC 'Our team is seeing more and more burial sites appearing around the refugee camps every day' http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/99   GOAL's Darren Hanniffy at the refugee Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:00:00 UTC In this part of Uganda, the situation is appalling; out of every 100 people, just 26 have access to clean drinking water http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/71   Young children often have to miss school lessons to collect Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:00:00 UTC Two of our beneficiaries sadly passed away before we had a chance to finish their new home, but thank God their children now have a roof above their head http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/68 My name is Tyche Hofman, and this is my first time blogging for GOAL. I’m Dutch and have been active in the field of development since 2001, living all over Asia and currently in Uganda.   Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:00:00 UTC The people realise that if there is to be any chance of an escape from the perpetual cycle of poverty...then it will only come by education. http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/61   Students at the GOAL-supported Silver Plate school in the Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:00:00 UTC One year on, we must keep Haiti firmly in the spotlight http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/53 In a few seconds on the afternoon of January 12th, Port-au-Prince was almost completely flattened by a massive earthquake. More than 220,000 people were dead and another 300,000 lay crushed and injured by the falling debris. 1.3 million survivors were left without a home. Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:00:00 UTC Slowly but surely, the people of Haiti are recovering from the earthquake... http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/29 I’ve been in Gressier - a district to the west of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince - for a couple of months now and things are moving along nicely. The main order for transitional shelter materials has arrived in Haiti and we transported the first load down last week. Our engineering team is working hard and has completed the foundations for six shelters in three days. So far, five families in Bois Bassa (a village in Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:00:00 UTC His emotion was clear to see as he told us that everyone had lost friends and family in those brief moments on January 12th http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/30 Today is an historic day. In my home town, many people commemorate King William of Orange and his victory in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. This means absolutely nothing in Haiti. Today is the day that people are remembering that, exactly six months ago, Haiti was absolutely devastated by a large magnitude, shallow, earthquake. Our staff wanted to commemorate this and we were honoured to oblige them. We had a moment of Mon, 12 Jul 2010 5:28:26 UTC Before, we saw GOAL like a pregnant woman - we didn't know if it would bring a boy or a girl, or whether anything would come. But GOAL has brought doctors, hospitals and has made great happiness in the community. http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/31 It’s still early but the sun is already hot. On a long, compacted mud road heading out to the west side of Twic County, the further reaches of GOAL’s programme in South Sudan, a group of us are being tossed around the back of a sturdy Toyota Landcruiser, the standard flagships of NGOs across the world. Needless to say, the air conditioning in the old workhorse has long since spluttered its last, but we make do with the Mon, 21 Jun 2010 5:33:49 UTC We can learn many lessons from our experiences in Port-au-Prince http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/32 Things change very quickly here in Haiti. When I first interviewed for GOAL way back in January, I was told I was going out as a logistician but I wasn’t told exactly what I would be doing, which was perfectly understandable and did not concern me. For the first couple of months, I was involved in food distributions. This enabled me to meet our beneficiaries, which is quite unusual for a logistician. In the vast majority Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:29:44 UTC Loki has developed into a town geared specifically towards funnelling supplies to the aid agencies of South Sudan... http://www.goal.ie/NewsDetails/33 “Are you Chris? It’s me, boy, Matt - from Cork!” It’s 6am and I’m sitting bleary eyed in a secondary terminal of a small airport in Nairobi, Kenya. Matt is the only other person I know from my ‘real life’ who is also in this line of work and here he is, all energy despite the ungainly hour, grinning at the coincidence. Despite the remoteness of the work and distances involved, aid workers inhabit a small Tue, 11 May 2010 10:31:11 UTC