September 2024
Hear from Anne Harrop, Lead Advisor Social Cohesion at VSO, on what you can expect from this issue of Kin and why VSO's work is so important right now:
"Globally, conflicts are growing more common. That is why building peace is increasingly at the heart of VSO’s work.
It’s my pleasure to welcome you to Kin, which features VSO’s work to build strong communities and lasting peace. I’m Anne and I volunteered for VSO in conflict-affected Myanmar from 2019 to 2020 before joining the team to lead on this critically important area.
Right now, you’ll be aware that conflict is destroying lives around the world, including in Ukraine, Palestine and Sudan. The roots of conflict are complex and varied. They include discrimination, inequality, poverty, access to land and climate change. The seeds of conflict are sown when one group of people is pitted against another.
People need to actively work for peace, and VSO volunteers are playing a key role in bringing communities together. On pages 4-7, you can learn about the challenges facing Guyatu* and Galgalo’s community in Kenya.
Families are regularly forced to flee when a cross-border dispute spills over, but as you’ll discover, people there no longer feel powerless. We are committed to leaving no one behind. So, please, if you can, keep supporting people like Guyatu and Galgalo, who are working to build peace, and safer, more secure lives."
Anne Harrop
Lead Advisor Social Cohesion
04 Peace matters - tackling the root causes of conflict on the Kenya/Ethiopia border
08 Building peace across the world
10 A new way of learning in Malawi
12 Five things about the Philippines
14 Remembering Susan and her passion for education
16 Raj and Peter write back - Sponsor a Volunteer in Nepal
18 My volunteer journey on the Kenya/Ethiopia border - Ibrahim Abduba
How to use the player
Zooming in and out:
Magazines can be enlarged by zooming in using the tool in the bottom right corner. There are 3 options to zoom in and out within the magazine.
- Option 1: Double-click with your mouse on the area you want to be zoomed in. You can then get back to the normal view by double-clicking again.
- Option 2: You're able to move the slide bar to right and left at the bottom right corner of the player.
- Option 3: You can use the "+" icon for zooming in and the "-" icon for zooming out.
Please note that using the zoom function on your browser may not work.
Full screen
The button in the on the bottom far right will allow you to view the magazine in full screen.
Search
You're able to search for a specific word within the magazine using the search tool found in the bottom right corner.
Downloading and sharing
The buttons download and share can be found in the top right corner. If you're struggling to use the player, you can download the magazine as a PDF.
Further guidance on using the player
Previous editions
Kin Issue 12 - September 2023Kin Issue 11 - March 2023Kin Issue 10 - September 2022Kin Issue 9 - March 2022
Right now, families on the Kenya/Ethiopia border fear for their lives
Inequality, poverty, climate change, and extreme weather are causing growing competition for water, food and land. Conflict is getting worse and life is getting harder.
Will you help families build peace and safer, more secure lives?
More ways to support us
Free Wills service
We’ve partnered with Octopus Legacy, a leading Free Will writing service, to help our volunteers and supporters write or amend free wills online or over the phone.
Sponsor a Volunteer
Sponsor a Volunteer and help unlock the incredible power of people.
Newsletter - regular email updates from VSO
Sign up to our free, monthly email newsletter and we'll update you with the latest news and stories about VSO volunteers and our impact in Africa and Asia.
*Pseudonyms have been used to protect identities.