Child marriage refers to the marriage of a minor to either an adult or another minor. Quickly, without warning, and unprepared. Since underage marriages are illegal, weddings usually take place without prior warning In the darkness of night.
Most Bangladeshi women got married as children. 59% of girls marry before they turn 18.
Together, we can prevent child marriage in Bangladesh and give girls a chance for a normal childhood, play, and school. The annual Food for Life campaign starts on 22 August. On the next day, the music video for Dreams will also be released together with Ilta.
The village of Rusengo in Burundi has undergone enormous change in just a few years. It shows that a lot of good can come out of a seemingly hopeless starting point.
The Horn of Africa is suffering from the most severe drought in 40 years. The global food crisis is driving millions into hunger. In Kampala, the capital of Uganda, the crisis is already visible in the meals of the poor.
Marianne and Esa Pyykkönen’s childhood dreams came true when they spent 13 years together in missions in Papua New Guinea.
Fida has delivered emergency aid to Tigray, Ethiopia, together with the local Guenet Church.
More than half of Tanzania’s population is under the age of 20. The children of big cities are a large group unreached by the gospel. Nevertheless, activities aimed at children have not been considered important in local churches. Teacher training is limited to a few seminars, and there is a shortage of both materials and teachers.
Would you walk eight kilometres to school every day? 12-year-old Leah from Kenya made that trip every day because the nearest school was in a neighbouring village far away. When Leah got back home from school, her evening was spent doing household chores in her family of 10: washing dishes, doing laundry, and carrying water. No wonder she always started school feeling tired and hungry.
Fida’s history in Ethiopian work goes back to 1951, when their first missionaries arrived in the country. Now the church founded by the Finns has grown to be the large Ethiopian Guenet Church with 2.1 million members. The church is one of Fida’s local partners. The head of the Church, Secretary-General Tamirat Tariku, thanks the Finns very much for sending missionaries to their country.