*As someone who has lived in Kenya, I have personally witnessed the impact of rapid population growth not only on the beautiful local environment but also the compounding struggles to the lives of women, children, local communities and public health.
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When I was living near Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria, I noticed such a difference between villages that had empowered women's cooperatives, accessible healthcare, and family planning services compared to the communities that did not. When these were not in place, people had only their local church groups to turn to. Unfortunately, in many cases, religion was not an adequate substitue, particularly in traditionally patriachal communities. Poverty, mental health issues, substance abuse and HIV were just some of the unfortunate outcomes.
This is why it is so crticial that organisations such as CHASE Africa exist. One can see, hear, feel the difference in the air when women have agency and control over their reproductive lives and the size of their families. The feeling is that of a weight being lifted in the air, a feeling of levity accross the whole community - it is really palpable!
Of all the charities out there, CHASE Africa is one of the most important (outside of Sustainable Population Australia - of course!) I'm going to be so bold as to put a link directly to their donation site here. Please visit - right now if possible, and consider donating generously. You really will make a difference.
Also, this (very) short video introduced me to the work of CHASE and I thoroughly recommend giving it a gander.