ULALO is here. A community that needed no direction. A story that was always worth telling. Watch now: vimeo.com/1175553598 #UlaloFilm 🎥: Directed by Isaac Oboth of African Storytellers 📷: Robb Hohmann

Big news from Zambia. 🇿🇲 The Trail Bridge Construction & Maintenance Short Course Curriculum is officially TEVETA-approved, a three-month program that will certify local artisans, technicians, and engineers to build and maintain trail bridges across the country. Thank you to every partner who made this happen. 🙌

The @AfDB_Group Environmental and Social Safeguards team visited two of our trail bridge projects in Sironko District, Uganda: the Buyi suspension bridge and the Bumusi B-Nesome bridge, currently under construction. The delegation assessed our safeguards compliance and left with a positive overall picture: satisfactory performance on site safety, strong community engagement, and inclusive workforce practices. Minor corrective actions noted. No major violations. And Fika has been invited to join quarterly corridor project meetings going forward. Safety is our passion, and inclusion is how we build.

National budgets should reflect the realities of rural communities. That was the driving question at last week's CSO Roundtable and Pre-Annual National Budget Submissions Forum convened by Fika Zambia and the Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD). The forum convened civil society, government, and development practitioners to discuss how evidence-based budget submissions can more effectively address rural isolation and its effects on essential services. With representation from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the day reinforced a core belief: inclusive dialogue is critical for national development planning. #Fika_Zambia

Under the TRAIL Ethiopia program, 135 trail bridges have changed the way 2.6 million people move through their lives. Today, we're announcing $11.9 million from the @HelmsleyTrust to keep going. Phase III targets 198 more bridges, a sixth region, and a full handoff to the Ethiopian government. Infrastructure that belongs to the country. Built to last. 👉Read the full press release here: fika.org/fika-and-helmsley-c…

In rural areas, a single heavy rain can turn a river crossing into a barrier, isolating schools, clinics, markets, and water sources. This #AfricaDay, under Agenda 2063’s vision of a resilient and integrated Africa, resilience is more than adaptation policies. It’s whether communities remain connected when conditions shift. At Fika, we see safe crossings as part of that solution: enabling continuity of access, even in climate shocks.

Last week, Fika Ethiopia and @Helvetas met with the Agricultural Transformation Institute to discuss what rural connectivity actually enables: reaching markets, schools, health services, and agricultural support. The conversation centered on how trail bridges, feeder trails, and rural access mapping intersect with Ethiopia's Rural Transformation Pathways. We're glad to be building it alongside partners who see that too.

Twatashye ikiraro cyo mu kirere cyagenewe abanyamaguru cya Kamonyo, gihuza Imirenge ya Rugabano na Gashali. Ni icya karindwi cyuzuye, mu biraro 10 turimo kubaka muri uyu mwaka byagenewe ingengo y’Akarere ya Frw asaga miliyoni 490, hiyongeraho kandi ay’umufatanyabikorwa @fikaorg

For millions of children, the only way to school is long and dangerous. Rural bridges create safer routes and shorter distances that avoid busy roads with no pedestrian protection. #waystoschool

We spent a week at #ITF2026 with the global transport community, and there’s one message we kept coming back to: corridors don't connect communities if the first mile isn't funded. Three sessions, one booth, and conversations we’re looking forward to continuing. #ITFSummit #FundingResilientTransport #RuralAccess

⭐Muri uyu mwaka wa 2025/2026, twiyemeje kubaka ibiraro 10 byo mu kirere by’abanyamaguru 🔷6 byararangiye 🔶4 birimo kugana ku musozo 🔷Ingengo y’imari y’Akarere ni Frw miliyoni 493, hakiyongeraho ay'umufatanyabikorwa @fikaorg ✅Koroshya ubuhahirane & kubungabunga ubuzima.

Kwita ku buzima bw’umuturage mbere y’ibindi byose no guharanira iterambere rye, ni kimwe mu byatumye Akarere ka Karongi kubaka ikiraro cyo mu kirere gihuza utugari twa Shyembe na Mubuga mu Murenge wa Murambi cyatashwe none, gitwaye Frw asaga miliyoni 80.

Every culture, every language, every corner of the world: Mothers are the reason communities hold together. They’re the first teachers, the quiet planners, and the ones who make sure everyone arrives at the table, at school, at the end of a hard day, safely. Happy Mother's Day to every mother, everywhere. Thank you for keeping your community whole.

School enrollment numbers don’t always tell the whole story. For millions of mothers, sending a child to school is a risk calculation, and behind every absent child is often the unfortunate reality that, today, the path was too dangerous. This Mother’s Day, we’re thinking about every mother who has ever had to make that calculation, and every community still waiting for a safer option.

Over the last 25 years, we've learned that access creates connections. We asked eight members of our team across programs, job functions, and tenures to write a love letter. Not to the organization, but to every person who has ever crossed one of our bridges. Read them: simplebooklet.com/fika2026_a… If you’ve ever crossed a Fika-built or supported bridge, we want to hear from you. Share your experience!

25 years ago, we committed to a belief so simple it shouldn't need stating: everyone has the right to get where they need to go, safely. Since then, we've partnered with governments and communities to build 800 bridges worldwide and have watched over 5 million people move freely. To school. To the market. To the hospital. To their homes. We didn't count the crossings. We counted the lives on the other side. We will not stop until every person, everywhere, can safely get where they need to go. Join us for the next 25 years. Fika.org | 25 Years of Arrivals