International Development
The Salvation Army International Development UK works alongside communities around the world to overcome poverty and injustice.
As a unit of The Salvation Army in the United Kingdom and Ireland Territory we work in partnership with The Salvation Army in more than 20 countries to support the delivery of community development and emergency response projects.
Who We Are
Meet the team behind The Salvation Army International Development UK
What We Do
Find out how we are working alongside communities around the world
How We Work
Find out about our latest campaigns
What You Can Do
Get ideas for fighting poverty & injustice with International Development UK.
Current Projects
The Salvation Army International Development UK partners with more than 20 countries around the world to defeat poverty and injustice.
Meet Florence
In Kilome, Kenya, community members were struggling to access clean water. The Salvation Army worked alongside the community to construct a sand dam. Sand dams are concrete structures which are built across riverbeds during the dry season. During the rainy season water collects in the sand dam which is naturally filtered, and can then be accessed year-round.
One of the community members who has been part of the project is Florence Kavoo.
Florence, 49, is happily married and blessed with eight children. She shared her experience of life before and after the construction of the sand dam:
"I have lived in this community my entire life. It has been hard. The village was in a bad state. There was no water or food, and we couldn’t plant anything because there was no rain. Our domestic animals suffered just as we did, and my children could not go to school regularly because I had no money to pay for the fees. Neither my husband or I had a regular job. We used to do casual work which would pay very little but meant we could look after the children.
The Salvation Army church is a good church that cares about the well-being of communities. It has helped us to build a sand dam. This sand dam is our life! It wasn’t easy to build but at last we have what we hoped for and my husband and I have something to do. We are now growing vegetables, and I have planted over 60 trees and some flowers around my home. The environment has changed and our animals have water.
Through the project we have received training in planting trees and vegetables. I have gained a lot of knowledge through this training and now sell the vegetables that we grow. The income has helped us to meet our basic needs and our children can go to school.
I am planning to increase my farming, to plant many trees and also start tree nurseries so that we might earn more income and continue to improve our standard of living.
My hope is that my children will continue in school. My husband and I will continue farming for our better tomorrow. The sand dam means we can now access water at the riverbank near our land.
I don’t have the words to express my thanks to The Salvation Army for what they have done with our community. God bless them."