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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Haiti: Youthful views: National Geographic photo camp March 19, 2012
For six days last month, 18 Haitian youth came together for a Mercy Corps and National Geographic photo camp in Port-au-Prince.
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Colombia: Armed for a new life March 15, 2012
Six weeks ago, 16-year-old Juliana was fighting for the guerrillas in the Colombian countryside. Today she's one of 29 teenage ex-combatants living in a residential neighborhood of Cali, the country's third-largest city, learning how to get her life back on track.
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Libya: Battle scars on the playground March 13, 2012
The city of Misrata is reaching for a new beginning.
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Tajikistan: A new hope for new mothers March 12, 2012
Traditionally, new mothers in Tajikistan were taken care of for 40 days after giving birth, kept from household chores and even brought food in their room, where they spent all their time bonding with and caring for their newborn.
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Japan: Images: From ruin to renewal March 9, 2012
Twelve months after the tsunami that devastated Japan's northeast coast, reminders of the tragedy are everywhere — but so is an incredible resilience and hope to rebuild the future.
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Ethiopia: Dowries to degrees: An education for Ethiopia's young women March 8, 2012
Mercy Corps is helping girls in one of Ethiopia’s most remote regions explore a future full of new possibilities by providing them with scholarships to complete secondary school.
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Indonesia: Healthier babies in Jakarta's poorest neighborhoods March 7, 2012
Did you know that a father holding his infant on his shoulder at the end of the day may be the best way to soothe a cranky child? The baby is often comforted by the father’s heartbeat and his calm demeanor, which relieves a tired and stressed mother after a long day of infant care.
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Japan: Helping the next generation look ahead March 2, 2012
As I bumped along the slippery coastal road in a bus, I wondered what I would learn at the training that I was headed to in Kamaishi, Japan.
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Colombia: Children find brighter futures off the streets March 1, 2012
Espacios para Crecer, or Spaces to Grow, uses education to fight child labor in Bogotá's most impoverished neighborhoods. Children in Colombia are at an even greater risk of leaving school for dangerous and illegal low-paying work to support their desperate families who have fled violence from the country's drawn-out internal conflict. Girls are particularly vulnerable to child labor because they have lower matriculation rates and are more susceptible to sexual exploitation.
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Afghanistan: Building better lives in the midst of conflict February 29, 2012
As the uncertain tensions and violence in Afghanistan continue, our predominantly Afghan team is working tirelessly to ensure that community needs are met.