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Handicap International's response to the Syria crisis, which began five years ago, has become the biggest humanitarian response in the organisation's history. More than 600,000 people have been supported by our teams of physiotherapists, orthopaedic technicians, social workers, logistics officers and many others. Here, four of Handicap International's 370 strong team explain what their roles mean to them.

Ahmad is eight years old. He was born with spina bifida, a condition where the spine does not develop properly, and which prevents him from walking. He arrived in the Azraq camp, northern Jordan, with his family in November 2015. To improve his quality of life and his mobility he is being supported by one of Handicap International’s teams*.

Ala’a has been one of Handicap International’s social workers since April 2014. Based in Amman, she identifies the most vulnerable people and helps meet their needs. An industrial engineer by training, she explains why she chose to work with Handicap International.

The conflict that devestated the region of Casamance in southern Senegal for thirty years is now over. However, anti-personnel mines still pose a threat to civilians. Alongside its mine clearance operations, Handicap International is also working with its partner, ASVM (the Senegalese Association of Mine Victims), to inform and raise people's awareness of the dangers posed by mines. Over an eight-month period, awareness-raising sessions will be held in 60 schools and 65 villages.
 

In southern Senegal, landmines pose a clear and present danger. The violence that rocked Casamance for 30 years is now a distant memory, but the mines laid during the fighting, often on the edges of villages, continue to put people’s lives in danger.

Sayed is a six-year-old boy from Afghanistan with an irresistible smile. When he was five, he was injured by an improvised mine – one of many victim-activated devices that regularly kill and maim people in Afghanistan. After Sayed’s left leg was amputated, he was immediately treated by Handicap International and he is steadily regaining his independence. We talked to him and his father, Mohammed, at Handicap International’s physical rehabilitation centre in Kandahar.

From Syria to Yemen, Afghanistan, Colombia, Myanmar and Tunisia, the use of banned explosive weapons increased significantly in 2014 and 2015. To mark International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, Handicap International is calling for an immediate end to the use of these weapons.

Since 1996, HI has managed a physical rehabilitation centre in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. This centre is the only one providing comprehensive services to disabled people across the whole region. We visit the centre with Rasool, the officer in charge of our activities in Kandahar province.

Malnutrition hampers children’s physical and mental development, leaving them in an extremely fragile state of health. Handicap International is responding to the particularly acute problem in the Sahel. Over the next two years, the organisation intends to limit the impact of malnutrition in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, to ensure that children in the Sahel can grow up in the best possible health.

Since 2014, Handicap International has been running an inclusive education project in Senegal in the regions of Dakar and Ziguinchor. One of the project’s flagship initiatives is to provide medical consultations in primary schools for the early screening of pathologies which might lead to a delay in learning or even to the affected children dropping out of education. Adama Awa Ba, 12 years old, is one of the programme’s first beneficiaries.

There is a high prevalence of disability in Cuba. One third of people with disabilities have an intellectual impairment. Handicap International’s project aims at improving the living conditions of people with disabilities and their families and promotes their inclusion in communities in Piñar del Rio province, in the west of Cuba.

The Arms Trade Treaty was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 2nd April 2013, an important step in the fight against weapons proliferation. Handicap International is working in 20 countries to raise awareness of the risks posed by small arms and explosive remnants of war.
 

The sun has just come up. After the team has loaded up the equipment, Aziz, Handicap International's Head of Demining Operations, motivates the troops and reminds them of the day's objective: demining the village of Diagnon, located around fifty kilometres out of Ziguinchor. 

In response to the crisis in the Central African Republic, Handicap International has set up a logistics hub to make it easier for humanitarian organisations to access vulnerable people in isolated areas of the country.

For one year now Yemen has been torn apart by a conflict that has killed over 3,000 civilians. The humanitarian needs are immense. Since October 2015, Handicap International has been providing care for the injured. Over 1,200 people have already been helped by the organisation.