Mercy Corps in the news
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Libya: Building a new Libya from the ground up May 1, 2012
There is a feeling of intensity and anticipation in the air in Benghazi, a city in the northeast corner of Libya. There is enormous pride that last year's revolution started here; they were the first to stand up to Gaddafi. But people realize that there is much more work to be done. As is the case in many countries I've visited in my travels with the aid organization Mercy Corps, many women and young people are taking the lead.
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Indonesia: Do aid projects work? Tiny sensors will now let us know in real time April 30, 2012
Failed aid projects are so common as to be routine. Yet projects where the impacts aren’t known are even more widespread. Did those new stoves really clean the air? Are the new toilets making the water safer to drink? Many times, these questions are left unanswered until a follow-up study years later, where the causal relationship can be hard to pinpoint. So researchers are now designing tiny sensors to monitor cookstoves, water filters, and other devices in the field, and sending back remote data so that these projects can be evaluated in real time.
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North Korea: As North Korean rocket launch nears, the hungry get hungrier April 12, 2012
David Austin is one of the few outsiders who has seen firsthand how people live in the North Korean countryside, and he describes a population "lethargic" from malnutrition. Just two weeks ago, he visited an orphanage as part of his work as the North Korea program director for the relief organization Mercy Corps. He said the last protein children had eaten was in January -- eggs. "That tells us not only are they not getting a balanced diet but in terms of the rations, they're getting only about 60% of what a child needs," he said.
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Central African Republic: Weakened LRA still terrorizes villagers April 11, 2012
Obo, Central African Republic — When Jeanne Boliza looks at her 3-year-old child, she remembers. He is the product of her ordeal as a sex slave for a soldier in the Lord’s Resistance Army, a brutal militia led by a self-proclaimed prophet, Joseph Kony. Boliza, who was a child when she was raped, named her son Dieu Donné, “God Given.” But her neighbors refer to him by a different name. “They call him ‘Son of Tonga Tonga,’ ” said Boliza, now 17. It means “Son of the LRA.”
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Kenya: Kenyan wheelchair athletes find peace, reconciliation on basketball court March 30, 2012
Many victims of the 2007 Kenyan post-election violence were deaf, blind, or unable to run, making it difficult for them to find safety. As a result, one group of athletes with disabilities decided to take the matter to court - the basketball court. With outside assistance, these players revived the Rift Valley Wheelchair Basketball group, helping to teach peace and reconciliation.
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North Korea: Insight: Obama's North Korean leap of faith falls short March 30, 2012
When U.S. diplomats filed into North Korea's grim embassy in Beijing last month they found an unlikely surprise: Starbucks. Their hosts, led by North Korean's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan, had ordered U.S.-style coffee for talks both sides hoped would lead to new negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear program and to resumed U.S. food shipments to one of the most feared and secretive countries in the world. There were more surprises to come.
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How the developing world is using cellphone technology to change lives March 24, 2012
In Nigeria, a young girl can ask questions about sex discretely through SMS and get accurate information. After the earthquake in Haiti, survivors in remote towns could receive money for food straight to their cellphone. In Senegal, election monitors sent updates on polling stations through their mobile phones, revising an online map in real time with details about late openings or worse.
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Japan: Revisiting the site of the tsunami, one year later - VIDEO March 12, 2012
NBC’s Ian Williams reports on the long road to recovery in Japan and how some industries, like seaweed processing, are putting people back to work.
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Japan: Japanese seaweed farmers get back to work - VIDEO March 9, 2012
The Japanese village of Utatsu was famous for its seaweed, until last year's tsunami devastated the industry. Randolph Martin, from the U.S. charity Mercy Corps, explains how fishermen are revitalizing their economy.
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Japan: Japanese tsunami: One year later - VIDEO March 9, 2012
Nearly one year after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan, NBC's Ian Williams reports on how the aid agency Mercy Corps is helping survivors rebuild and jump start the local economy.