Feature Stories

Alioune Samb works as a butcher at the bustling Grand Dakar market in the heart of the Senegalese capital. “Before, we weren’t conscious of the potential dangers of our behaviours and the poor sanitation of the market,” he admits.

Beatrice Banya of Bong County, Liberia, knew that something was wrong. For over two years, the 34-year-old mother of two had been noticing her urination patterns changing. Hospital after hospital failed to provide relief until, finally, a nurse at CB Dunbar Hospital encouraged her to undergo a screening for cervical cancer.

As one of the first-ever female urologist surgeons in sub-Saharan Africa, Dr Médina NDoye regularly faces students’ astonishment at her choice to embrace a “male speciality”.

Officials in the Department of Health in Free State Province in South Africa beam with pride when talking about their response to COVID-19. Leadership, innovation, and partnerships, they say, have been key to effectively tackling the pandemic and placed the province among those with the highest vaccination coverage in the country.

60-year-old Raquelina Mazuze is proud of her contribution to the fight against polio as a social mobilizer in her native Mozambique.

As director of a national network of women living with HIV in Zimbabwe, Tendai Westerhof was used to challenging stigma.

A well-known goalkeeper and football coach both in his native Senegal and across West Africa, Lamine Thiare uses his considerable influence to transmit a simple message to young people: “Do not smoke!” he warns them emphatically.

Dr Rirhandzu Norah Mongwe is on the frontlines of Limpopo Province’s COVID-19 vaccination response.

Marthe Apuwa Mbila is a single mother of two children living in Lusengo, a remote area of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

12-year-old Christine Kisianan lives in a remote village in Kajiado County, one of the regions in Kenya most affected by the greater Horn of Africa drought, which is in its fourth year.