Unterwegs...
The nomadic life of Mara & Raf
Benifallet, Spain
- Mara & Raf
- April 17, 2022
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
Easter had a Spanish-Polish-Ukrainian-French-British-German-South African flavour for us this year. We were in Spain and spent the Easter weekend with a group of twelve people, seven cats, one dog and two birds. Our good friends Anna and Remi, whom we have visited a few times before, also had some of their family members and guests from Ukraine staying with them, so it was at times a little crazy and chaotic but in the wonderful…
- Mara & Raf
- September 20, 2020
- #Covid19, #FamilyFriends
Looking back at previous entries we saw that on 29th of March we wrote that there are “665,000 confirmed cases globally, with 17,312 here in the UK”. A couple of months later, on the 17th May we posted: ” As of today there are more than 4.6 million infections confirmed…
West Curry, Cornwall
- Mara & Raf
- August 9, 2020
- #FamilyFriends, #OutOfOffice
Our short trip to Wales a few weeks ago was great, so we decided to do it all over again: Doing the glamorous kind of camping and going for long walks along the dramatic British coast. This time we went to Cornwall and Dorset, and we slept in yurts….
- Mara
- August 1, 2020
- #Covid19, #Humanitarian
In the last post in this series, there are photos of Salvation Army staff and volunteers making sure that children are not left out in Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates, providing meals for people in need in Saint Lucia and Taiwan, loading and unloading lost of boxes in…
- Mara
- July 31, 2020
- #Covid19, #Humanitarian
In the third post in this series, you there are photos of Salvation Army staff and volunteers providing support to displaced people in Mexico and Peru, promoting hygiene and safe hygiene in Nigeria or Rwanda, going tthe extra mile even if this means by bicycle in Moldova or the…
- Mara
- July 30, 2020
- #Covid19, #Humanitarian
In this post you can see Salvation Army staff and volunteers wearing masks to protect others in Lithuania or Italy, providing hand-washing facilities in Haiti or Liberia, going the extra mile in Hawaii or Hong Kong and working in Salvation Army hospitals and clinics in India or Indonesia. Thank…
- Mara
- July 29, 2020
- #Covid19, #Humanitarian
In this second post in the series you can see Salvation Army staff and volunteers providing food items to affected families in French Georgia or Grenada, looking after people living on the street in Germany or Ghana, packing food and hygiene items into bags in Ecuador and Guyana and…
- Mara
- July 28, 2020
- #Covid19, #Humanitarian
Covid-19 is a global crisis with 188 countries and overseas territories affected, more than 16.7 million confirmed cases and more than 660,000 deaths. Whilst I have been working from home with no travels to the office let alone around the world, my work remains global and I have been…
- Mara & Raf
- July 20, 2020
- #OutOfOffice
Even before Covid appeared, we had talked about exploring Britain a bit more instead of flying to faraway places this summer. But with all the uncertainty around lockdown rules and what is sensible in the face of the virus, planning holidays has been tricky. So we’re appreciating the ability…
- Mara & Raf
- July 12, 2020
- #Covid19, #FamilyFriends
It is early July and Covid-19 is still a reality in our lives and the world with nearly 12.7 million confirmed cases and more than 565,000 deaths globally. Strictly speaking we are not in a full lockdown here in London anymore. Since last week, most businesses and shops are open…
- Mara & Raf
- June 18, 2020
- #Covid19, #FamilyFriends
Since the Covid-19 lockdown started in Europe, rainbows have appeared everywhere, as paintings on windows or walls, as decorative ornaments on trees, as chalk drawings on streets or as stickers on rubbish bins. These rainbows are a way to express people’s gratitude for all the work done by frontline…
- Mara
- May 20, 2020
- #Humanitarian
Data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that one person is forcibly displaced every two seconds. There are more than 70 million forcibly displaced people around the world. About 41 million people are displaced within their own country, and called Internally Displaced Persons. This is a…
- Mara & Raf
- May 17, 2020
- #Covid19, #FamilyFriends
Today is the 17th of May and we are on day 55 of our lockdown… If you count the days we already worked from home before the official government announcement, it is even more. Our days look very similar, every morning during the week Mara and Rebsi go running…
Bujumbura, Burundi
- Mara
- April 11, 2020
- #Humanitarian, #Issues
Please check out and enjoy this beautiful peace-building song, released ahead of the Burundi national elections next month. The song was written and recorded as a collaboration between Burundi community groups, The Salvation Army and Community Albums. It is part of a bigger peace building programme in the country…
London, UK
- Mara
- April 9, 2020
- #Covid19, #FamilyFriends, #Humanitarian
When I met Isaac in January 2006 on my first trip with the Salvation Army’s International Emergency Services (IES) to drought affected Kenya, little did I know that this was the beginning of a long-term friendship between humanitarian workers whose path would cross occasionally on joint humanitarian operations, conferences and…
London, UK
- Mara & Raf
- March 29, 2020
- #Covid19, #FamilyFriends
Covid-19 is here. On the day that we’re writing this, there are 665,000 confirmed cases globally, with 17,312 here in the UK. And we now know some people who are infected… A situation that started far away is definitely hitting home. For the past 2 weeks Mara has already…
London, UK
- Mara & Raf
- February 29, 2020
- #Covid19, #FamilyFriends
In the days before Covid-19 started to spread widely all across Europe we still had some carefree moments with friends, theater visits and little nieces sleeping over. It might be a while before we can enjoy these face-to-face encounters with friends and family again….
Bujumbura, Burundi
- Mara
- February 14, 2020
- #Humanitarian, #Issues, #Training
Amahoro means ‘peace’ in Kirundi, the language spoken in Burundi. Small and landlocked, Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world, almost 75% of its population of 10.8 million live below the poverty line. It is also the second most densely populated country in Africa. Burundi’s economy is heavily…
Palu, Indonesia
- Mara
- February 1, 2020
- #Humanitarian, #Training
Once every few years, our department facilitates a special training for our most experienced emergency responders; people who can lead one of our teams. The last one took place in Nepal in January 2017. This time it was held in Palu, Indonesia with 38 people (including our local hosts)…
London, UK
- Mara & Raf
- January 19, 2020
- #Arts, #FamilyFriends
Loving, losing, running, breathing, falling, living. These are just some of the topics the amazing up and coming musicians Mariam and Eli Del Rosario sang about in our living room. Add to the mix 27 friends from 18 different countries, eating, drinking wine and chatting and we certainly had the recipe…
- Mara & Raf
- January 13, 2020
- #Arts, #FamilyFriends
Street art in London is vibrant, political, rebellious and loud. It is also incredibly skillful and the transience and evanescence of these pieces of art on walls only add to the beauty and power of the images. If you have never done a street art tour in London, I…