Children & Youth
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Photo: Sean Sheridan for Mercy Corps
Teaching the next generation and keeping them healthy are essential to tomorrow's strong, vibrant societies. Mercy Corps works with communities to shelter and nurture children and youth through innovative education, sports and job training programs.
Through the power of sports, community service and vocational training, we empower young people to make smart life choices and find a productive place in the changing global economy.
Our signature Comfort for Kids program focuses on helping children process trauma after natural disasters and conflict. See our expert's recommendations for how parents and caregivers can help children through times of crisis ▸
All stories about Children & Youth
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Central African Republic: Play therapy for children displaced by LRA violence August 31, 2012
New groups are helping more kids heal from the terror wrought by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army.
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Comforting kids around the world August 31, 2012
In the aftermath of natural disasters and wars, children need help to make sense of what's happened. Our emergency-response teams lay the groundwork for emotional recovery in children by using two programs:
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Jordan, Syria: Helping young refugees play August 30, 2012
Just six miles south of the Jordan-Syria border, in the middle of a barren, windswept desert, there’s a haven of safety for more than 20,000 Syrians who have fled their homes in recent months.
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Jordan, Lebanon, Syria: Syria's refugee tide: Children at the heart of our mission August 28, 2012
Mercy Corps was founded over three decades ago to help Cambodia’s huge flow of beleaguered refugees, following the infamous “Killing Fields” slaughter. In fact, we were then called Save the Refugees Fund.
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Lebanon, Syria: Making progress to comfort more Syrian kids August 28, 2012
Yesterday held some big developments for Mercy Corps' new efforts to support Syrian refugees flooding into Lebanon.
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South Sudan: Fighting for an education August 16, 2012
Ten-year-old Zenaib is excited to begin attending class in one of the temporary learning spaces that Mercy Corps is currently constructing.
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Kenya: Using sports to ignite global youth potential August 10, 2012
After being shot in the chest with an arrow, David was forced to wait nearly two weeks for treatment. Lack of medical resources wasn't the problem — even though an ambulance took David almost immediately to the hospital, members of an opposing tribe refused to operate on him.
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Yemen: Protecting children in the crossfire August 9, 2012
Seven-year-old Hadiel looked forward to starting first grade last year at Nusaybah school, in the heart of Yemen’s capital of Sana’a. But the presence of heavily armed soldiers and certainty of violence kept her home.
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South Sudan: Creating safe spaces for learning August 7, 2012
After decades of war, residents of Unity state dreamed of brighter futures last July when they became citizens of the new nation of South Sudan.
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Lebanon, Syria: Syrians take refuge in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley August 6, 2012
I recently returned from two days of visiting dozens of Syrian refugees in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley to assess their needs and figure out how Mercy Corps can help. More than 35,000 Syrians have already registered as refugees in Lebanon, according to the UN refugee agency.