Emergency response
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Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps
Life can change for millions of families in an instant: natural disasters can take loved ones and the outbreak of war drive families from their homes. When the unthinkable happens, Mercy Corps delivers rapid, lifesaving aid to hard-hit communities.
All stories about Emergency response
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Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya: Situation worsens in the Horn of Africa, our response increases July 20, 2011
Today, the United Nations officially declared a famine in parts of Somalia. What does this alarming news mean? Technically, it refers to conditions that include 30 percent acute malnutrition among the population of a specific place.
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Japan: Re-opening Ofunato's fish market July 17, 2011
The tsunami poured through the Ofunato fish market, leaving the open-plan structure mostly intact but washing away almost everything within it.
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Kenya: Chronicles of a "drought widow" July 16, 2011
One of the saddest things about the current drought in the Horn of Africa is that it’s destroying families. Men go off with livestock to find water — often traveling hundreds of miles for months at a time — or they drop out of pastoral life and flow into towns to look for odd jobs.
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Kenya: Ten-year-old Hindiya Roble outside of Hadado, Kenya July 15, 2011
Hindiya Roble, 10, and her family have been walking for 17 days in search of water.
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Kenya: Walking for 17 days July 15, 2011
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Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia: Not just hunger, but fear July 14, 2011
Nearly everyone in the world experiences hunger at some point during their day. That said, it's different for all of us.
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Kenya: Chatting with the richest man in town July 14, 2011
Today the Mercy Corps team visited Elwak, a small town in the northeast corner of Kenya that lies only about eight kilometers from Somalia. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the poorest of the poor about how their lives are impacted by the drought that’s plaguing this region.
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Japan: What it looks like coming back to Japan July 14, 2011
Every day that I was away from Japan — while I was eating dinner, watching TV, dancing, laughing with friends, or sleeping on the other side of the world — a small army of police, army, municipal employees and volunteers was at work in tsunami-affected areas.
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Kenya: The plight of a “pastoralist drop-out” July 13, 2011
I’m a big fan of visiting markets, especially during Mercy Corps trips. It seems that even in the bleakest parts of the world, markets are vibrant, dynamic and often colorful places.
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Ethiopia: Meeting drought-stricken families' urgent needs in Ethiopia July 13, 2011
Even before the current Horn of Africa drought reached its acute stage over the last several days, Mercy Corps was already hard at work on drought response activities throughout the region. So far, the majority of our drought-related activities have been in Ethiopia.