Aid role a journey among harsh realities

Rosanna Keam with a group of children in Niger. Photo/Supplied

Tauranga's Rosanna Keam regularly travels to many parts of the world that would not feature on other's itineraries - places like Mali, Niger and Papua New Guinea.

The 28-year-old, an area development manager at World Vision New Zealand, is overseas for two months supporting World Vision New Zealand chief executive Chris Clarke on visits to Mali and Niger. She is also participating in regional meetings in Senegal and Australia.

Having just left Niger, Ms Keam said it was a country for intrepid travellers.

"It's incredibly dry out there. Vegetation is sparse and what does grow there is growing in desert sand," she said.

"You can almost feel the moisture being sucked out of your skin. When I shake people's hands, I can feel how hardened their hands have become from living and working in that kind of harsh environment ... But what an amazing country and a gracious gentle people who desire the very best for their children."

While overseas with World Vision, Ms Keam is responsible for monitoring and supporting the New Zealand-funded programmes in West Africa and Latin America which means she travels to Mali, Niger, Honduras and Nicaragua once or twice each year.

She monitors education, climate change resilience and food security, economic development, health and nutrition, WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene), and child protection projects, she said. She loves the WASH projects.

"In Niger and Mali, like many other countries, women are responsible for collecting water and often walk for hours in 45C heat in search of it. Then it is contaminated when they do find it, she said.

"You will often see little children walking around with milky-looking turgid water in Coke bottles that they use for drinking ... There's no way that we would let our children drink that water in New Zealand. As a result, the children get very sick.

"The simple act of constructing a water system in a community, therefore, can drastically change women's and girls' lives. It not only allows them to drink clean, safe water, it also allows them the time to care for their families, earn an income, go to school, and relax."

Ms Keam said the job could be difficult: "It's not easy being faced with human suffering on a regular basis and in Mali and Niger this is particularly acute. At the same time... I get to see some really ground-breaking work and it gives me a sense of energy and drive to continue."

World Vision

* World Vision is an international NGO that works to improve the lives of children and families in the developing world through sustainable, community-based initiatives. World Vision New Zealand was established in 1970 and currently supports more than 44 projects in over 25 countries. World Vision works alongside community members, encouraging local ownership of development projects to ensure they continue long after World Vision leaves.

* The three ways World Vision aims to combat poverty are: transformational development, disaster management and response and advocacy.