Urban initiatives
Overcrowded and environmentally stressed, today's megacities are home to millions who live in extreme poverty. Mercy Corps works to bring education, health and economic opportunity to families who have fallen through the cracks.
All stories about Urban initiatives
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Indonesia: Nineteen: Hasanuddin, water seller May 15, 2009
Hasanuddin, 44, operates a small food stall and sells water in an illegal settlement under a toll road in Jakarta. He says that he earns "enough to survive."
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Indonesia: Nineteen: Eni, jamu seller May 15, 2009
Eni, 31, sells a traditional herbal medicine called jamu from a basket that she carries around the dockyards and fish markets of North Jakarta. She's made as much as $242 in a month to support her family.
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Indonesia: Nineteen: Hepi, soto ayam soup seller May 15, 2009
Hepi, 47, sells chicken soup every day on Platform 3 at Central Jakarta's Kota Train Station. He earns between $220-$330 each month, and lives in a small rented house near the train station while his family lives in a different part of town.
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Indonesia: Nineteen: Sriyusiati, soto betawi soup seller May 15, 2009
Sriyusiati, 49, operates a food stall in South Jakarta, selling coconut rice, beef soup and other traditional dishes to office workers. She makes approximately $440 a month from her business.
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Indonesia: Reach hopes for the poor April 21, 2009
Mercy Corps Indonesia's Urban Program aims to build just, productive and secure urban communities.
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Iraq: Kirkuk Women Are Building Peace March 13, 2009
Mercy Corps is training women in Kirkuk, Iraq to become leaders and work cooperatively against violence and hatred.
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Indonesia: Healthy places, prosperous people September 4, 2008
Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is expected to become East Asia's largest metropolitan region by 2015.
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Ethiopia: Turning Trash into Cash March 14, 2008
As a single mother with a 13-year-old son, Tafessu Jiru doesn't have a lot of kitchen scraps coming from her household. Most everything is put to prudent use.
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Sudan: Opening Doors in Abyei February 16, 2008
Abyei town, Sudan — Patterned bedsheets keep the mid-afternoon Sahelian sun and the swirling dust out of Theresa Whex's restaurant in Abyei's main market, a maze of mostly stick-and-straw stalls.
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China: Finding Hope on the Side of the Road February 6, 2008
One day as 40-year-old Guo Peiling was rummaging around the neighborhood for his recycling business, he found a school for his youngest daughter.