Mercy Corps in the news

United States: Oregonian: Mapping Mercy Corps Path to New Headquarters October 13, 2006

When the tsunami hit Indonesia in December 2005, so many donations rolled into Mercy Corps that its five-building Southwest First Street headquarters was overflowing - not just with cash, but also with movement. To uphold Mercy Corps’ policy of sending thank-yous within 72 hours, volunteers packed every conference room. Operations staff had no places to meet save between their desks. Countless press interviews took place in halls. The internal communications among 140 people were strained to the breaking point.
North Korea: Oregonian: Aid Group Leader Warns of North Korea Famine October 13, 2006

Sanctions blocking international aid to North Korea could trigger starvation on the scale of a 1990s famine that killed as many as 2 million people, Mercy Corps President Nancy Lindborg said Thursday.
Uganda: Washington Post: Uganda's Plight Pressed on Capitol Hill October 11, 2006

Donning yellow and orange T-shirts, 700 activists from across the country pressed legislators and Capitol Hill staffers yesterday on the need for high-level American involvement to bring peace to northern Uganda, a region that has experienced wartime atrocities, abductions of children and widespread displacement for more than 20 years. Among the participants was Grace Akallo, 25, a former Ugandan child soldier, kidnapped from her dormitory by rebels along with 139 other girls 10 years ago. Yesterday, she recalled her ordeal.
Pakistan: Reuters: Pakistan Group Helps Disabled Quake Victims Find Hope October 7, 2006

MANSEHRA, Pakistan, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Embarrassment is the least of 18-year-old Rozina Rehman's problems after her back was broken a year ago in the earthquake that killed 75,000 people and scarred the minds and bodies of many, many more. The first anniversary of the quake is on Sunday, but the young woman remains too self-conscious to go back to school in a wheelchair, so she stays home with her parents.
Pakistan: Reuters: Pakistani Villagers Taught Animal Care in Wake of Quake October 6, 2006

SIRIN VALLEY, Pakistan (Reuters) - Sitting on the floor of an earthquake-damaged house, 25 women from Jigal village in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province listen to a veterinarian doctor tell them about animal husbandry. For a community that lives off its livestock, caring for animals hasn't been a strong point in the villages of Pakistan's Sirin Valley. It is only in the wake of last year's horrendous earthquake that some fresh ideas have arrived to shake up a community that has been following the same wasteful practices for generations.
United States: Charity Scouting $35 Million New Digs September 23, 2006

Mercy Corps, the humanitarian organization that has gone global from Portland, plans to build new headquarters in Old Town for as much as $35 million. The complex, and another project near New York's ground zero, will feature centers designed to encourage people to fight world poverty and hunger.
Lebanon: War and Pieces September 13, 2006

Two months after intense fighting erupted in Lebanon and Israel, Portland-based Mercy Corps has shifted its focus in Lebanon from delivering emergency aid to long-term rebuilding. "Lebanon is the best bet right now...in the Arab world for democracy, as we know democracy," Mercy Corps emergency coordinator David Holdridge said in a telephone interview last week from Beirut.
United States: High Moral Ground is in Nation's Self-Interest September 9, 2006

We Americans like to believe that we, individually and as a nation, hold ourselves to higher moral standards than do other people. The terrible things that happen in other countries "just couldn't happen here." Even when we are hard pressed, face criminal acts by a few or are drawn into war, we, better than most anybody else, abide by the law, follow the rules, respect ethical guidelines, honor the basic human rights of all -- including our enemies. So a substantial number of us tell ourselves.
United States: VH1/Mercy Corps Hurricane Relief Partnership August 30, 2006

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused the largest disaster in U.S. history, scattering more than 750,000 Gulf Coast residents around the country, killing at least 1,800 people, destroying 275,000 homes and causing more than $100 billion in economic and physical losses. VH1 "Get Up Stand Up" is a collaboration with Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian agency, to help carry out short term and long term Hurricane relief efforts.
United States: Local Volunteers Try to Help Area, Families Rebuild August 29, 2006

One year after Katrina, the hard work still goes on to help the Gulf Coast region recover from the floodwaters that stole everything from many people who had little to begin with. Denise Barrett of Lynnwood, director of Mercy Corps' Gulf Coast hurricane recovery program, has been in New Orleans since November. But even now, the situation sometimes still brings tears to her eyes.