Aurora is committed to continue the cycle of giving internationally and has supported 23 projects in 15 countries to date with more than $3 million to combat poverty, improve healthcare and provide education to those in need. What’s even more impressive are the people behind the stories. You can read the stories of real impact here – told in their own words.

BANGLADESH

According to the UNHCR, more than 723,000 Rohingya refugees fled to Bangladesh since 2017, and their numbers keep growing. It’s hard for them to get access to healthcare, because the area is overcrowded, and the resources limited. Thanks to Aurora, who supported projects in Balukhali and other refugee camps, 250,000 Rohingya refugees were able to get treatment, and 500 Rohingya families (approx. 2,500 individuals) benefited from the improvement and maintenance of damaged infrastructure in the camp.

Cristina works for Médecins Sans Frontières, one of the organizations who received support from Aurora. She is a midwife and was in Balukhali when the diphtheria outbreak started, and her location became the referral center for all the refugees in the area. “Among the admissions were pregnant patients, and I remember one was very close to giving birth. One evening the nurses called me because she was in labor. I arrived there just in time to help her deliver her baby girl,” she recalls. After the outbreak ended, they were able to finally start focusing on obstetric activities, receiving four patients on the very first day.

BRAZIL

In 2017, 26.5% of the Brazil’s population was below the poverty line. Families living in one of the capital’s poorest areas constantly struggle for money and are unable to send their children to school. Low educational rates make it more likely for parents to get involved in drug trafficking in a desperate attempt to provide for their children.

Elenice Flávia Chagas, like more than 150 others, is assisted by the CACEF center, supported by Aurora through Fondation Partage Luxembourg. Elenice is raising her three kids alone, which is quite common in her community. To make ends meet, she has to work around the clock and even that’s not enough money to pay for the children’s daycare. Thanks to CACEF, when Elenice leaves for work, she can be sure her kids are well looked after and actively learning.

CAMEROON

Cameroon has one of the highest prevalence of HIV and AIDS in West and Central Africa, and people living with disease in the country are routinely discriminated against. Many of them get mistreated even in the hospitals where they come seeking help. Aurora and Fondation Partage Luxembourg are committed to changing that, providing 15 local community educators with training to teach over 69,400 vulnerable individuals about HIV and AIDS. Ndengue Nadège is one of them.

“As a community educator, I must say that now I’m able to help patients accept their HIV status. If somebody is told they are infected, I know there is no need for panic. I can teach them to be courageous, seek treatment and be helped. Suffering is preventable – there are ways of living with this disease,” she explains.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

A prolonged conflict that stretched well over two decades has left the DRC in an extremely unstable situation. The population is experiencing critically high levels of food insecurity and terrible violence, with minors being the first to suffer. Aurora provides care and scholarships for 392 vulnerable children and sponsors a community microcredit program benefitting 1,021 families (approx. 5,400 individuals).

Esther became homeless when she was still a small child. Roaming the streets for something to eat, she had no hope for a better future and nobody to help her. Luckily, one day she met Belgian volunteers who brought her to the INUKA center, one of the projects supported by the Aurora Prize through the Jean-François Peterbroeck Foundation. Esther was malnourished and traumatized by her life experience. Now she is taken care of and INUKA’s team is trying to reunite her with her mother.

ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia has long been a popular destination for people from Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea fleeing from war, persecution and instability. According to the UNCHR, the country “maintains an open-door asylum policy, giving humanitarian access and protection to those seeking refuge.” Unfortunately, arriving there doesn’t guarantee a better life, and many leave again, becoming easy targets for human traffickers. Thanks to Aurora, 29 victims of kidnapping, who had landed in Egyptian prisons were released and resettled in Ethiopian refugee camps. Almaz Habtay Aregawi from Eritrea is one of them.

In 2010, he escaped to Ethiopia to avoid being drafted into military service and was placed at the May Aini refugee camp. But life there was extremely difficult, and Almaz and his friends left for Sudan. They were kidnapped and couldn’t afford to pay ransom, so they were tortured. Almaz was eventually released by the captors but imprisoned in Egypt for illegal migration. After six months he was finally rescued by the Gandhi NGO, supported by Aurora through Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse, and transported back to Ethiopia where he was given a second chance. Now he is a happily married father.

KENYA

Kenya currently has more than 1.5 million people living with HIV and AIDS, and most of them find it hard to seek treatment, fearing both the costs and the discrimination. Aurora is committed to changing that, supporting the African Mission Healthcare Foundation that organizes seminars and training on HIV and tuberculosis for healthcare specialists. Thanks to this, 99 medical professionals will help 39,600 patients by the end of 2019.

After completing the HIV training, Reuben Murianki Kailikia from Meru County, Kenya came up with a revolutionary action plan to improve cervical cancer screening, but he is certain this is just the beginning. “The training has really made a difference in our service provision beyond HIV. We are now starting to address other health problems,” says Reuben. Training designed for tuberculosis diagnosis has proven to be eye-opening for many of his colleagues. An experienced health worker, James Jasper Ajigo initially thought there wasn’t much to learn. “As the training progressed, I realized I had failed to properly diagnose patients [in the past],” admits James.

MALAWI

According to USAID, about 37% of children under 5 years are experiencing chronic malnutrition in Malawi, and adults are not exempt. The population also suffers from HIV, malaria and other diseases, and rarely has access to maternal and child health. Aurora’s financial aid enables 10,100 patient visits to a clinic, resulting in many saved lives – including Lucy Alfred’s, who was diagnosed with HIV when she was pregnant.

After giving birth, Lucy’s health started deteriorating, and her body weight went dangerously low. She was referred to Katawa Community Clinic, supported by Aurora through the African Mission Healthcare Foundation, where she received treatment and was enrolled in a nutrition program. Lucy is feeling better now, and she can hardly believe it. “I could see death, but now I am saved from the graveyard,” she says.

MALAYSIA

UNHCR estimates the number of Rohingya living in Malaysian refugee camps to be 90,200. For them, life seems to have stopped after they lost their homes, possessions, and sometimes families. As they remain in the camps, it is important to give them access to proper health care and education. That is why Aurora and the International Catholic Migration Commission support two initiatives directed at empowering Rohingya refugees in Klang Valley and Kuala Lumpur. More than 18,000 people will benefit from English literacy classes, vocational trainings and livelihood support.

It’s not the first such project successfully implemented in Malaysia. Hakim is one of the Rohingya refugee volunteers currently taking part in their gender-based violence prevention project and has become a model for the male role in supporting women’s empowerment. “Gender-based violence is a topic that everyone should know about, regardless of race or culture,” he states.

MYANMAR

After the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, where houses were burned to the ground, men killed and women abused and violated, many refugees tried to flee to the neighboring countries but ended up in the IDP camps in Sittwe. They were severely traumatized, both physically and mentally, and needed proper healthcare. This is exactly what Aurora provides by helping MERCY Malaysia set up 10 health care service stations in Sittwe, where up to 73,233 Rohingya in internally displaced persons’ camps will benefit from them – like 17-year-old Sohini, whose own family ignored her pain.

After having her first child, she started experiencing persistent pain in her stomach. “I frequently had to lie down. My husband and his family thought I was being lazy, but I was not well,” she confided. Finally, Sohini went to see a doctor at the Primary Healthcare Center ran by MERCY Malaysia. There, she was diagnosed and given medication that helped her heal.

RWANDA

Political unrest in Burundi forced many young people to flee to Rwanda, but refugees there face a lot of problems like unemployment and lack of access to education. Thanks to Aurora and Maison Shalom, more than 1,500 young people were able to attend English classes, receive vocational training, primary, secondary and university education, and more than 1,300 pupils benefited from school renovation projects. 1400 people also joined the microcredit programs allowing them to start their own businesses.

Moïse Iteriteka had to flee Burundi after being accused of supporting the political opposition. He ended up in the Mahama refugee camp where he met 2016 Aurora Prize Laureate Marguerite Barankitse. “She found us hopeless but gave us hope to continue our studies,” says Moïse. He received the opportunity to finish his education and is now working as Head Teacher.

SOUTH SUDAN

The Republic of South Sudan faces severe humanitarian issues, many of them caused by conflict. The population is deeply affected by insecurity, displacement, lack of food and outbreaks of disease, and the government doesn’t have the resources the support its own people. But thanks to initiatives like those supported by Aurora that build a new surgical wing at St. Therese Hospital and help the Catholic Medical Mission Board, which sends volunteer medical professionals to the understaffed areas, around 30,000 patients in Nzara County will receive treatment.

Martin Rubino and his wife Sarah are two of the courageous and compassionate volunteers taking part in the Aurora Fellowship program that brings care to one of the most marginalized and hard to reach communities in South Sudan. “We are both overjoyed to begin this long-awaited chapter in our lives,” says Martin.

SUDAN

Humanitarian challenges in Sudan are mostly caused by poverty, underdevelopment, and climate, compounded by ongoing conflict. In many areas, it’s vital that people in need receive immediate assistance and protection, because it’s crucial to their survival. Aurora provides medical supplies to the Mother of Mercy hospital (where 2017 Aurora Prize Laureate Doctor Tom Catena works), ensuring better care for 343,000 people.

Aurora Fellow Matthew Jones has a lot to say about his experience working here: “I have personally diagnosed 6,000 patient cases, mostly children with malaria, dehydration, pneumonia or malnutrition. But it’s not about numbers. It’s about stories, relationships, successes, failures.”

SWITZERLAND

2017 Aurora Humanitarian Dr. Denis Mukwege, founder of the Panzi Hospital, has dedicated his life to serving others. He has provided physical, psychological and legal support to more than 50,000 survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo while fearlessly seeking to bring to justice those responsible. Thanks to Aurora and Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse, his foundation was able to organize an event in Switzerland, where 25 survivors of sexual violence from 14 war-torn countries got the support they needed to move on.

“I see that some of the women whom I’ve treated have gone on to study medicine or to become nurses. And when I see them taking care of other victims, I think that’s absolutely the spirit that you’re talking about through the Aurora Prize,” says Dr. Mukwege, who in 2018 was awarded the Nobel Prize for his efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict. One of the participants of the event in Switzerland has described the experience as profoundly transformational, saying: “Seeing my sisters speak with force, with courage and without fear led me to ask myself, why am I scared? This fear fades slowly, and I know that soon I will do more.”

TANZANIA

About 80% of Tanzanians live in rural areas with limited access to education and healthcare, and an estimated 1.6 million people are food insecure across the country. In these conditions, it’s a miracle for sick children and babies to survive – but Aurora makes that happen. Thanks to the Arusha Lutheran Medical Center, supported by Aurora through the African Missionary Healthcare Foundation, more than 250 children and newborns receive high-impact health care and life-saving treatment.

Gracious and Godlisten Gaitan Malima are among them. They were born prematurely at 26 weeks, weighing only 600 and 860 grams respectively, and placed in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Arusha center, the only place that provides advanced care for such babies in the region. Soon they gained normal weight. The twins’ parents, who belong to the Nyaturu people, were overjoyed. “I am positive that my babies will be doctors, able to save others’ lives like they have been saved,” said their mother.

UGANDA

Uganda is currently listed among the poorest countries in the world, with more than 20% of the population living below the poverty line. Ugandans have limited access to sanitation, electricity, health care, education and even food, and many suffer from violence and consequences of conflict. But Comboni Samaritans of Gulu, supported by Aurora through Aktion Canchanabury, are giving 106 vulnerable children like Felix Okema hope for a different future.

13-year-old Felix, who wants to become a musician and has already written several songs, was left by his parents with his grandmother. She loves the boy but has no resources to pay the school fees or even give him enough food. Aurora’s support means that Felix will be able to get an education – and will no longer be hungry.

Cover photo by Mamunur Rashid/NurPhoto via Getty Images