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Older people’s stories
Older people are speaking out and we are listening. Our collection of life stories captures the strength and resilience behind a lifetime of experience.
Browse our story collections
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War in Ukraine: The vital role of older people in supporting their communities
70-year-old Lyudmila is a social care worker in eastern Ukraine. In addition to talking about her own experience, she echoes the thoughts of the people she has worked with.
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#PensionsForPalestinians: How pensions can support older people in Palestine
Social pensions can help provide a much-needed safety net for older people who may otherwise be left without any income.
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Older people in Malawi face devastation and uncertainty in the wake of Cyclone Freddy
Among the hardest hit were older people, who now find themselves grappling with the loss of their homes, livelihoods, and loved ones.
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Video: Older people who survived the catastrophic earthquake in Syria
We look at the survivors who now have to rebuild their lives, and at the humanitarian response of HelpAge's partner SEMA.
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Hope in the midst of disaster
Stories of older people who survived the catastrophic earthquake in Syria.
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Resilience in repression: older people in Myanmar two years after the military coup
Two years after the military coup in Myanmar, older people support each other and their families despite difficulties created by the new regime.
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Robina Bughio, 56, Pakistan
Robina Bughio, 56, is a widow living in the village of Hadi Bux Shah in the suburbs of Shahpur Jahania, in Shaheed Benazirabad District, Sindh Province.
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Muhmmad Salih, 75, Pakistan
Muhmmad Salih (75) from Shahpur Jahania village in Shaheed Benazirabad district, is now living with his family in the open air as they couldn’t get to the shelter provided in the community school quickly enough, and it was already full. The mud-plastered home he shared with his wife and four children was completely destroyed by the heavy rains and his livestock were killed.
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Haji Noor Muhammad, 70, Pakistan
Haji Noor Muhammad (70) from Shaheed Benazirabad district in Sindh Province is paralysed down the right side of his body so when heavy rains destroyed his home, he struggled to make it to a safer place.
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Stories of resilience in Dnipro – Ukraine
People have flocked to the city of Dnipro from all over eastern Ukraine, fleeing the war with Russia. Here are their stories.
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Viktoria, 80, Ukraine
I was born on July 12, 1941, as bombs were falling. My father named me ‘Viktoria’ for victory, anticipating a win over the Nazi invaders.
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Anna 73, Ukraine
I am from Lyadova in Vinnytsia Oblast, near the Moldovan border, but I moved to a suburb of Kyiv with my daughter, Olga (46), and granddaughter Anastasiia (15), four years ago.