Small acts of solidarity, big impacts on human lives.
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I joined community solidarity initiatives to support vulnerable people in Angola, distributing bread, food and protective hygiene supplies. These photographs capture moments from that experience.
Six years later, the question is: what has changed?
People with disabilities, children living on the streets, older people, those facing mental health challenges and people with no family support are still visible on our streets, yet too often invisible in our priorities.
Helping them is not shameful, and it is not a crime. It is not an attack on Angola’s image. It is humanity. Documenting these realities is not about exposure. It is about opening public debate, mobilising institutions and pushing for solutions. Criticising those who help is easy. Real change takes participation, commitment and action.
What Angola needs:
- More shelters and food banks
- Permanent social assistance programmes, not one-off campaigns
- Partnerships between government, the private sector and supermarkets to donate food that is still safe to eat, cutting waste while families go hungry
- Investment in initiatives built around people’s real needs
Are vulnerable people truly a priority in public policy? Caring for people means caring for Angola’s future.
Solidarity should not live only on an international day. It should be a daily practice. Whether you volunteer, donate or simply refuse to look away, do one thing this week.
International Day of Care and Support
Every 29 October, the world marks the International Day of Care and Support, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly (resolution A/RES/77/317). Its purpose is to recognise how much care and support matter for gender equality and for the sustainability of our societies and economies, and to push governments to invest in care systems that are inclusive, rights-based, disability-inclusive and age-sensitive.
This year’s theme is “Building sustainable care and support systems through decent work.” It puts the spotlight on the people who do the caring: their wages, protection, safety and voice.
The numbers show the scale of what is at stake:
- The global care workforce is made up of 249 million women and 132 million men.
- By 2030, the number of people needing care is expected to reach 2.3 billion.
- Women carry out 76.2% of all unpaid care work, 3.2 times more than men.
Care is not a side issue. It is the foundation that everything else rests on.
What this looks like on our streets
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Together, we can make a difference.
Sofonie Dala | Community Solidarity & Social Impact
#InternationalDayOfCareAndSupport #DiaInternacionalDoCuidadoEDoApoio #Solidarity #Solidariedade #Angola #EndPoverty #HumanDignity #SocialInclusion #CommunitySupport
Learn more: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/07/congratulations-sofonie-dala-was.html
