All corners of the media are scrutinising David Cameron's "Big Society", from every conceivable angle. While the concept has caught the public's imagination, the greater challenge of fleshing out what the Big Society will actually offer and require of communities is unfinished business. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations…

Enthusiastic learners acting as community learning champions (CLCs) are scarcely a novelty. There has been a surge of interest in what they have to offer in the last couple of years, thanks in large part to a government programme, which has funded training and support for learning champions through 50 community projects across the country, and a…

History has a habit of ignoring women. Thirty years ago one thought that re-emerging women's movement would never be dumped in the same way previous feminist generations were consigned to the dustbin of history. It took feminist activists and scholars; women trade unionists and health workers; feminist writers, publishers and artists; and the…

In 2002, Sierra Leone, a small country on the west coast of Africa, emerged from a brutal civil war that had lasted 11 years. It claimed 20,000 lives and displaced well over one million people, who either fled into neighbouring Guinea or Liberia or survived in the forests, swamps, and mountains. The devastation caused by rebel campaigns of…

With the highest national HIV prevalence in the world, the issue of HIV/AIDS is one of the most pressing socio-political matters in South Africa. It directly affects between five and six million people. A conservative estimate suggests that 600 people die every day of illnesses related to HIV/AIDS and the number of AIDS orphans in South Africa is…