Stories

They guide women through all the steps of caring for a child – from conception and pregnancy to birth and the critical first years of a child’s life. Although this description might call to mind doctors, nurses or specialised health workers, it also includes another category of care provider that must not be overlooked – mother counsellors.

We often think of elephants as gentle giants. Beloved by nature enthusiasts the world over, they are an iconic presence in the forests and grasslands of Africa and Asia. They are also a keystone species, indispensable for maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystems in which they live.

Forty-seven-year-old Rwandan farmer Pierre Kanyarwanda is enthusiastic. For the last five months, he has brought additional money home by applying his newly acquired skills in sericulture (silkworm rearing).