Blogs

Vietnam: staff donate their wages to flood victims

In a time of hardship throughout South East Asia, HelpAge's partner, the Vietnamese Women's Union (VWU) have shown their incredible solidarity to all those affected by the devastating floods in Vietnam. The VWU staff, who total 28,000 across the...

Typhoon Ketsana devastates older people’s lives in Vietnam

At least 164 people have been killed and 15 left missing since typhoon Ketsana lashed central Vietnam last Tuesday. The typhoon has caused more than US$600 million in damage and has affected more than three million people. A large...

Goddy Paul in Manila

This morning was the first time in so many days that it did not rain. There was a mild shower early in the morning where I was staying, but that was quickly replaced by some sunlight unsuccessfully trying to...

South East Asia: Continuing emergencies

HelpAge's Regional Representative for East Asia and Pacific, Eduardo Klien, sent us this latest update on the continuing emergency situation: Vietnam The damage is larger than initially thought. There are large numbers of affected people (estimates of aro

Aftermath of typhoon Ketsana: More from Manila

As I start to type this report, the radio is blaring out information on the current situation of Typhoon Parma. The information is that the storm is making landfall over Luzon which is the province in the north of...

Goddy Paul writes from Manila

I am out in Manila in the Philippines, working with our partner COSE to bring urgently needed assistance to those affected by the devastating floods. We went out to five flood affected locations in Manila to distribute food and...

“I thought it was a nightmare, but it’s real”

Nanay Luisa Martin, 73, Vice President of Roxas Elderly group (left, being interviewed by Generosa from COSE): "We did not eat for almost two days because we did not save any food. It was really unbelievable. I thought it...

Fighting for older people’s rights in emergencies

A group of young men jeered when they saw the HelpAge International logo on the side of our vehicle: "Here come the old people's organisation! We have lots of old people here - what are you going to do...

Hoot for Peace

Throughout our programmes around the world we have seen older people demanding thier rights and campaigning on issues ranging from access to pensions to better healthcare. Last year, older people from 36 countries took part in our global campaign...

Lions not lambs: “Age helps” in action in Brazil

Alex Kalache, HelpAge International's Global Ambassador reports on the Rights of Older Persons Conference in Brasilia... I was inspired and thrilled by the recent Rights of Older Persons Conference in Brasilia. I would not need to have been born...

DRC: In search of older people again

I take stock of what I've learned in both the temporary settlements and the official camps. The data available is poor. No one knows how many are still in the villages which won't be accessible to NGOs until security...

DRC: Temporary settlements

The day after my beautiful journey through Rwanda, I go to see three temprorary settlements of IDPs (internally displaced people) in Goma's poorest bidon-ville (slum) where the city meets the Nyiragongo volcano. The area's devastatingly eerie. You can see