Resilience photo contest: More of our favorites

"Many Ethiopian women have found hope, community and empowerment through competitive running. While most do not become professional athletes, some do; and training allows them all to stay in school, avoid early marriage and enhance their personal economic opportunities." —photographer Soeren Malmose. Photo: Soeren Malmose

Just try and not smile when you look at this image from Prateek Ahuja, taken in India. The photographer writes, "They live, they yearn, they are happy... knocked down by fate, they refuse to give up. One day, destiny will call and they will have the best luck of us all." Photo: Prateek Ahuja

"The scene in Kinoni, Uganda can seem tragic – it’s poor, dirty, and often in electrical blackout. I’ve witnessed the incredible impact that HIV/AIDS has had on the community, particularly on its children. When I came across this adolescent girl standing bold and upright (like a human exclamation mark!), I was impressed. She isn’t beaten and she isn’t defiant. She is resilient." — photographer D. David Robinson. Photo: D. David Robinson

"The people of Kuakata, Bangladesh, are united to build their community again after cyclone Sidr devastated them in 2007. Even the largely destroyed Sundarbans mangrove is sprouting new leaves, symbolizing the epitome of human resilience in Kuakata." — photographer Mohammad Moniruzzaman. Photo: Mohammad Moniruzzaman

Photographer Bruce Chadwick describes this photo he took of a woman in Iraq: "She has survived through three wars, a ten year occupation, floods, famine and the loss of her ancestral home when the marshlands were drained by Saddam Hussein. The marshlands are slowly being re-flooded and with this, she told me hoped for the security and prosperity she remembered as a child." Photo: Bruce Chadwick

"The January 2010 earthquake in Haiti left mass destruction in its wake and no place was the devastation more evident than in the town of Leogane. A team of volunteer doctors from the US and Italy performed an emergency cesarean to deliver a premature baby in a makeshift medical facility. With the infant turning blue, hardly breathing and near death, doctors worked frantically to revive the child. She survived." — photographer Catianne Tijerina. Photo: Catianne Tijerina

This striking photo from Andrea Leoncavallo caught our eye. She writes: "LaChelle is a 14-year-old girl of the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wind River, Wyoming. She was taken away from her mom and her family at the age of 2 and since then she has been in 26 placements. LaChelle embodies resiliency for me because despite the trauma she has experienced and carries with her, she is trying so hard to move forward in a positive way." Photo: Andrea Leoncavallo

"The Women's Skills Development Organization in Nepal offers opportunities to abused, disabled, economically disadvantaged, widowed, divorced and socially outcast women from rural communities in Nepal, one of Asia's poorest countries. The women are able to recover from desperate situations through vocational skills training and become self-supportive." — photographer Craig Ferguson. Photo: Craig Ferguson

"This boy, in the village of LaPimienta, Nicaragua, like the other children in town, face adversity every day because of a lack of adequate food, clean water and proper health needs. Many of the children have to adapt and overcome in various ways to help their families and the community." — photographer Colin Stapp. Photo: Colin Stapp

"This was taken at an evacuee camp near the volcano 'Merapi' in Central Java, Indonesia. Although living in harsh conditions in a camp with hundreds of fellow evacuees, in a constant breathtaking flow of volcanic ash, these women sure kept high spirits." — photographer Mie Cornoedus. Photo: Mie Cornoedus

David Uttley's photo of a woman making beautiful pots in Gujarat, India was one of our finalists. Photo: David Uttley

Kelly Doering's photo of a woman carrying water in Uganda was our runner up. The photographer wrote: "Women in Uganda are the primary caretakers of the family and perform the bulk of the labor in the community. Though they face many hardships and obstacles, it's their strength and resilience that gives the ability to provide for their family and hold a community together." Photo: Kelly Doering