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There is currently a lot of attention in the global news for the Ebola virus. Yet the people most at risk often lack the essential knowledge, and the means, to protect themselves adequately. Our colleague Shine writes from Monrovia, Liberia: “I am sure you have heard about the Ebola outbreak in some parts of West Africa, affecting Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in particular. It’s the worst outbreak ever recorded. Over 1,100 people have died and the World Health Organization has declared it a global health emergency.

A Canadian, Daniel Kish, who was born blind, felt that his mobility – using a long white stick – was too limiting. He set about finding out how to improve on it and has now developed a mission to facilitate the self-directed achievement of blind people everywhere. A key component is echo-location, which involves blind people making noises to bounce off objects nearer and further away; they can be trained to become much more aware of the sounds around them, to become more confident and to move more freely. Graduates use bicycles to travel around. A full explanation of World Access for the Blind’s ‘Perception Based’ approach can be read at www. worldaccessfortheblind .org/node/120

Fifteen years ago I read an evaluation of programmes to help victims of sexual violence in the wars in Bosnia Herzegovina. I was struck by the number of responses from refugees who said that the intervention that helped them most was this – a designated tent in the camp which was physically safe and where they could meet other women, relax, talk and help each other.

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.

Our brand new Organizational Management skills section gives the lowdown on all you need to know about running a good ship. Strategic planning… Human resource management… Office management… Financial management…

Networklearning invites all its friends and colleagues to take a little time to think about their country and its children under the age of five. Why? Because these little kids are the future of the nation. If they are not reaching their full potential, the whole country loses out. » Read Maeve Moynihan’s article: Early Childhood Development: the critical factors What is Advocacy and why is it important for such issues? » Find out the 10 steps to success – in just 3 handy pages. Download Nicolien Wassenaar’s new K ey I nformation S heet, KIS 4: Advocacy » Also new in the Library : Finding Mental Health after Conflict: This useful manual for anyone planning to help people who have been displaced or repressed is now available in Arabic , thanks to Elmubarak Eldaw (47 pages). » Plus two new guest publications: We have the newest edition for job-seekers of A Guide to Voluntary and Humanitarian Work (164 pages), generously donated by Bryan Walker. And Bryan has also made available the 271-page heavyweight Structures for the Displaced: Service and Identity in Refugee Settlements by James Kennedy.