Children & Youth
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Photo: Sean Sheridan for Mercy Corps
Teaching the next generation and keeping them healthy are essential to tomorrow's strong, vibrant societies. Mercy Corps works with communities to shelter and nurture children and youth through innovative education, sports and job training programmes.
Through the power of sports, community service and vocational training, we empower young people to make smart life choices and find a productive place in the changing global economy.
Our signature Comfort for Kids programme focuses on helping children process trauma after natural disasters and conflict. See our expert's recommendations for how parents and caregivers can help children through times of crisis ▸
All stories about Children & Youth
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Kosovo: Streetlights pave the way for brighter future March 30, 2012
Life was scary on the dark streets of Kodra in northern Kosovo. As the sun set in this multi-ethnic neighborhood of Mitrovica, children would scatter, afraid of what might hide behind the corner.
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Indonesia: From the source: Mothers provide perfect nourishment March 27, 2012
Infant mortality remains high in Indonesia, the result of acute malnutrition and illness. Breastmilk imparts key nutrients to protect babies' health, yet many mothers are misinformed and choose to feed their infants formula or other foods.
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Haiti: Youthful views: National Geographic photo camp March 19, 2012
For six days last month, 18 Haitian youth came together for a Mercy Corps and National Geographic photo camp in Port-au-Prince.
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Colombia: Armed for a new life March 15, 2012
Six weeks ago, 16-year-old Juliana was fighting for the guerrillas in the Colombian countryside. Today she's one of 29 teenage ex-combatants living in a residential neighborhood of Cali, the country's third-largest city, learning how to get her life back on track.
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Libya: Battle scars on the playground March 13, 2012
The city of Misrata is reaching for a new beginning.
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Tajikistan: A new hope for new mothers March 12, 2012
Traditionally, new mothers in Tajikistan were taken care of for 40 days after giving birth, kept from household chores and even brought food in their room, where they spent all their time bonding with and caring for their newborn.
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Ethiopia: Dowries to degrees: An education for Ethiopia's young women March 8, 2012
Mercy Corps is helping girls in one of Ethiopia’s most remote regions explore a future full of new possibilities by providing them with scholarships to complete secondary school.
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Indonesia: Healthier babies in Jakarta's poorest neighborhoods March 7, 2012
Did you know that a father holding his infant on his shoulder at the end of the day may be the best way to soothe a cranky child? The baby is often comforted by the father’s heartbeat and his calm demeanor, which relieves a tired and stressed mother after a long day of infant care.
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Japan: Helping the next generation look ahead March 2, 2012
As I bumped along the slippery coastal road in a bus, I wondered what I would learn at the training that I was headed to in Kamaishi, Japan.
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Colombia: Children find brighter futures off the streets March 1, 2012
Espacios para Crecer, or Spaces to Grow, uses education to fight child labour in Bogotá's most impoverished neighborhoods. Children in Colombia are at an even greater risk of leaving school for dangerous and illegal low-paying work to support their desperate families who have fled violence from the country's drawn-out internal conflict. Girls are particularly vulnerable to child labour because they have lower matriculation rates and are more susceptible to sexual exploitation.