Supporter: Jordan Anderson

While Mercy Corps works in dozens of far-flung locations across the world, we are proud to call the state of Oregon and the city of Portland home. It’s the place that nurtured the culture of innovation, collaboration, and optimism (with a touch of scrappiness) that we prize to this day.

Part of the ACYF delegation waits for Portland's Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light rail train. Photo: Mercy Corps

As someone who grew up in this area, I’m especially touched that Mercy Corps is so welcomed and loved in this community. To be sure, the feeling is mutual, and our new building and Action Centre right smack in the centre of town demonstrate that love. But because our work tends to be in places far away, it’s a bit rare for us to work side-by-side with friends from all of the great organisations that call Oregon home.

So imagine my joy when the city and region did not hesitate to put on its work gloves and help us in late June, when we welcomed 18 emerging leaders from the All-China Youth Federation (ACYF) to town.

The federation links over fifty Chinese youth organisations with over 77,000 combined members, reaching over 300 million young people — a platform to improve the lives of massive numbers of youth both in China and internationally. Mercy Corps and ACYF enjoy a deep partnership, working together to improve the lives of youth in China, with ideas for more collaboration globally. This year’s delegation included a sprinkling of folks from youth agencies, government, journalism, state-run industry, and private enterprise.

As much as I was impressed by the talent and heart of our old friends here in Oregon, I was equally floored by the energy, accomplishment, and intellectual curiousity of our new friends from ACYF. It’s safe to say that their preparation and dedication brought out the best in everyone. We ended up learning as much from the delegates as they did from us!

The course itself works to build a new cadre of risk-taking leaders that can work more effectively with local communities, and innovatively address social problems. To help us, we called upon some of the region’s best and brightest to help us share some of our successes. Oregon is well-known for its pioneering environmental protections, such as a bottle recycling law and guaranteeing public ownership of the entire coastline, and Portland is a mecca for green industry and smart planning.

An ACYF participant speaks to the group during one of the many days of work sessions. Photo: Mercy Corps

This year's programme built on the success of last year's pilot programme, adding several field visits and some extra time in the classroom. The delegates heard from renowned academics, including Portland State professors Carolyn McKnight and Ronald Tammen. This year's field visits drew the delegates even wider across the state. In Salem, delegates met with Secretary of State Kate Brown, along with state legislators Jefferson Smith and Brian Clem. In the Columbia River Gorge, the group met with members of the Warm Springs tribe, representatives of the Columbia River Gorge Commission, and other stakeholders. In Astoria, Shorebank Enterprise Cascadia provided practical examples of how economic development can be balanced with cultural and environmental protection. We also caught some sunny weather on the Oregon Coast — never guaranteed.

Here in Portland, the delegates attended a panel discussion at Metro, the Portland area's unique regional government. Metro is tasked, among other things, with managing the region’s growth. This was of great interest to people from a country that is undoubtedly growing, and they relished the opportunity to share ideas with a diverse and knowledgeable panel.

Members of the ACYF delegation stand in a circle during a group exercise. Photo: Mercy Corps

One of the group’s favorite visits took them to Portland YouthBuilders, an organisation which helps young people complete their secondary education while learning construction and media production skills. Even while the conversation was bridged by interpreters, being able to hear directly from youth was a highlight for the delegates. While there are cultural differences (students with multiple piercings was new for them), the chance to sit face-to-face with American young people made clear how many shared challenges are faced in each country.

Panelists from the worlds of corporate social responsibility, social finance, and private philanthropy discussed how they partner with social entrepreneurs and foster social innovations. Local organisations, including Nike, New Seasons Market, and the Meyer Memorial Trust stepped up and their representatives helped greatly enrich the conversations.

In our survey and debrief, the delegates told us nearly unanimously that they came away from the programme with new skills to bring to their work with youth in China, and a fundamentally changed perspective of the United States. We're confident that the programme will serve to support smarter, more inclusive growth, and aid the blossoming of civil society in China.

At the end of the programme, one of the delegates told me: “The more time we spend here, the more we realize that we have so much in common. We feel at home here.”

To me, that was the most satisfying thing I could have heard. It’s also clear to me that the incredible friends Mercy Corps enjoys here in Oregon are the reason that this place could feel like home to our new Chinese friends.

Read more ▸

A bone-rattling one-hour drive still separates the village of Layeun from Banda Aceh, the capital of the tsunami-decimated Aceh province of Indonesia. Roadside scenes along the way provide mind-boggling reminders of the force carried by the wave. Entire bridge spans sit half-submerged in rivers, and sections of pavement the length of a short city block lie in ditches, folded and crumpled like stripped paint. Hastily constructed temporary bridges and pitted gravel track lay in its place.

Such obstacles have not prevented dozens of former residents from traveling the 20 miles to their former village from the camp in which they have been living since the tsunami displaced them. Today, in this small coastal village, local residents are meeting with Mercy Corps workers, outlining the tremendous struggles that they still face and relating the small successes that have allowed the new version of their old village to flourish.

In Layeun’s main village, a small row of temporary buildings is nestled next to a small road. A counterpart row can be seen springing up 500 yards away, across the brown, eroded rice paddies that cover the coastal plain. In one of the buildings, a gathering of recently returned villagers sit on the floor across from representatives from Mercy Corps. The topic of discussion today is obvious, but not necessarily simple: how can Mercy Corps help those who wish to return rebuild their lives here?

Before the tsunami, Layeun was a modest village – population 905 – approximately halfway between the coastal cities of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. A café by the main road sold coffee and tea, and fishing and rice farming provided the backbone of the local economy. A health clinic and primary school stood nearby.

The effects of the tsunami on Layeun are striking. The waves washed away all previous infrastructure. A line of denuded vegetation 40 feet high runs along the hillside. A hill that used to bisect the village is no longer a hill at all. The 215 homes that existed before the tsunami have all been destroyed. An estimated 702 villagers survived.

Difficult decisions

Most of those who were spared are currently in camps for internally displaced persons or living with other families. Layeun’s survivors have several options. First, they can remain for some length of time in the camps or with their host families. However, the camps are at best a short-term option, and most families are keen on departing. Those with host families are usually in tents or temporary housing on the property of family or friends, and don’t wish to rely too long on the generosity of others.

Their second option is to move to government barracks. The Indonesian government is also building barracks across the countryside of Aceh, which provide more privacy and facilities than the camps. These barracks are also intended to be temporary, but many observers fear that they may become permanent as resources thin and momentum to develop permanent housing wanes.

The third option is to return to their former village. The few dozen villagers in Layeun today have chosen to rebuild on the site of their former homes. At this point, most are men, as the lack of schools, the difficulty of travel, and the scarcity of services deter the majority of women and children. But that is changing.

Determination on every face

Today, the few dozen villagers who have returned to Layeun are making the best of a trying situation. Mercy Corps is helping them realize the futures they choose for themselves. The agency provided the metal sheeting, nails and other materials that have been used to create the few simple structures in which the returnees are living. Mercy Corps has also provided flexible support to help residents build additional structures and restart the fishing activities that provided the livelihood for many Layeun residents.

Aside from basic services and shelter, Mercy Corps is examining ways to provide support for health care and education. This support is crucial to drawing most of the villagers back. The men in Layeun state emphatically that the children will return where there is a teacher.

Even with so much ahead of those who have returned, determination is evident on every face today in Layeun. The future may be unclear, but the intention of the residents is not. Buchari, a Layeun resident who has returned to Layeun with his wife and two children, is unequivocal. “My forefathers fished in this village,” he says. “Why would I want to be anywhere else?”

Read more ▸