Last September a bomb landed on a mosque in the once-gorgeous city of Aleppo in Syria. Its dome crashed into an adjacent home, where 42-year-old Mariam was preparing dinner for her children.
Mariam is one of so many women who are taking care of their families after being forced from their homes by Syria’s civil war. More than 75% of the Syrian refugees in neighboring countries are women and children.
Photo: Sumaya Agha/Mercy Corps
An estimated 140,000 Syrians now live in the Zaatari refugee camp on the Jordan-Syria border. Mercy Corps’ Lisa Hoashi recently visited the camp, and provides some insight into what everyday life is like there through this photo essay. The photo above is a “cinema tent” set up by Mercy Corps and Unicef, which plays kid-friendly movies every day.
A 7.0 earthquake struck China’s Ya’an prefecture in Sichuan on Saturday, killing nearly 200 people and injuring more than 14,000.
We arrived in the hardest-hit Lushan county within 24 hours of the initial quake. We’re working to provide water sanitation supplies and will soon start distributing hygiene kits that include towels, soap, diapers and other necessities.
Our longtime presence in the Sichuan province and local connections will be key to our ability to reach as many people as possible with lifesaving aid in the days and weeks ahead.
Photos: Liu Liangchuan/Mercy Corps
A deadly 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck China’s Sichuan province today; our team is on the ground assessing damage & emergency relief needs. Read more.
Photo: Reuters stringer, courtesy Thomson Reuters Foundation - AlertNet
After decades of responding to emergencies around the world, we’ve seen that kids are often the most vulnerable in times of crisis.
For parents trying to help children process what happened in Boston on Monday, we hope you’ll find support in these ten tips from the clinical psychologist who helped develop our Comfort for Kids program.
Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton, courtesy Thomson Reuters Foundation - AlertNet
Ten touching acts of kindness at the Boston Marathon, via Mashable.
Always look for the helpers.
There have been reports of rape and there continues to be the ever-present danger of stray bullets. Cesar, our Health Facilitator, woke up last Sunday to find a hole in his roof and a bullet in his pillow.
Alison Heyes, manager of Mercy Corps’ education projects in Bangassou, Central African Republic. Our team is back in the country this week after being evacuated in the days leading up to a rebel-led coup d’etat on March 24.
Raifa is a Palestinian refugee who fled Syria to Lebanon. She gave birth to her baby on the same day she arrived to the overcrowded Weavil Camp in Baalbek, about six weeks ago.
Our board chair Linda Mason recently visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon and wrote about her experience in this piece for the Huffington Post.
The rapid influx of Syrian refugees is draining Jordan’s already low water supply. Read this piece from Time explaining the problem, and find out what we’re doing to solve it.
Photos: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps
Beautiful, heartbreaking photos of Syrian refugees with their most important, and in some cases, only possessions.
See more photos at BBC.co.uk, by photographer Brian Sokol.
