Grace, Honesty and Optimism

A beneficiary talks to a Mercy Corps staff member. Photo: Amy Ellingson/Mercy Corps

Stories are often written about an individual who has come into contact with Mercy Corps for various, very important reasons. Whether it's in the aftermath of a hurricane, earthquake, war or drought, there are certainly countless people who have, at one point or another, benefited from a chance encounter with Mercy Corps.

Sometimes that contact is brief: a number of months spent building a road or repairing a well. Sometimes it is more substantial: mothers and children spending over a year learning preventative family health and getting vaccinations, or entrepreneurs taking out low-interest loans and attending business development seminars. Ultimately, though, those with the most extensive contact with Mercy Corps are undoubtedly the least featured: Mercy Corps national staff.

I had the good fortune to spend five weeks traveling and working in Eritrea, East Africa. In my travels I was introduced to a number of Mercy Corps beneficiaries, whose stories I am very happy to relay. But I want to add another layer to the typical beneficiary testimony; I want to include the observations and lessons I gathered from my guides in Eritrea, my interpreters and my companions. As these people formed the lens through which I glimpsed Eritrea, they must also frame the stories that come from there.