Supporter: Na Eng

Especially during the first several days in the aftermath of an disaster, a diverse group of Mercy Corps staff comes together for phone conferences to coordinate and discuss what's happening on the ground. Today, we had the second such call for the group that's helping lead emergency responses in Indonesia and Samoa.

The call brought together 16 people from three different countries: staff from two cities in Indonesia, four cities in the United States and our European headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was 8 P.M. in Indonesia and 7 A.M. in Portland, both outside the usual scope of working hours — but the early going of an emergency response is an around-the-clock, around-the-world responsibility.

Here are some of the happenings in Indonesia that we talked about on today's call:

• Still no piped water in the city of Padang. Roads are opening up.
• Rapid needs assessments have been completed, now our Indonesia team is putting the data together to get a better picture of needs and challenges, both immediate and long-term.
• Distribution process has begun and has been going well. We delivered recovery kits containing wheelbarrows, shovels, hoes, saws and other equipment to almost 400 households in the village of Ulakan.
• We're also distributing jerry cans, household kits that include blankets, sarongs, towels, buckets and some hygiene items to families that are displaced or living in damaged houses.
• Our emergency team is going to many underserved areas of the island, as well as places where we've worked over the last few years.
• We're using community members from the disaster risk reduction program to help distribute items — this involves training and capacity building.
• Our team is purchasing items locally, which is a more efficient process and supports the local economy.

Tomorrow promises more reports from our hard-working team on the ground in Padang — as well as more updates here. We'll keep you notified of our work to help survivors recover and rebuild.

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It was so exciting to see young Palestinians in the Mercy Corps family speak their hearts to CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour in “Generation Islam” – a two-hour documentary that aired last night. Zaid, a twenty-one year engineering student, pled with viewers to stop painting all Muslims with a broad brush. “I am not a terrorist,” he said. “I want to live my life like any other. I want to have the same opportunities.” And Reem, a composed young woman who is studying business administration, said she wanted to see a world without weapons.

Zaid and Reem are part of the Global Citizen Corps, an international youth network that inspires and equips young people to become leaders in their communities and to take actions toward a just, secure and productive future. I thought they did an amazing job articulating their reality and experiences.

In “Generation Islam,” Amanpour focuses on the fact that the youth population is soaring in the Middle East, and she highlights some of the incredible forces shaping their worldviews, including war, political conflict and the severe lack of educational opportunities. The documentary vividly shows the relics of bombed homes, and the fear and distrust in the eyes of kindergarten-age kids growing up in such traumatic circumstances. It introduces us to Afghan and Palestinian families who mourn the loss of their sons and daughters and other families who struggle to keep their children in school.

Mercy Corps has worked in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the 1980s, running short-term employment initiatives, educational programs for youth, business skills training, interfaith peace-building and the transformational Global Citizen Corps. We have also had a long-standing presence doing development work in Afghanistan. There are incredible challenges in these war-torn regions, but as Zaid, Reem and all the young people in Mercy Corps’ program demonstrate, there are also plenty of reasons for hope.

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