Citizen Involvement

Children march and sing as part of a recent day of activities for Mercy Corps' RW Siaga Plus+ programme, which focuses on improving sanitary conditions in urban Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Abbey Jones/Mercy Corps

I found myself being swept along with the wave of elementary students marching in the streets. Although at first I didn’t know the words to the song they were singing, I soon learned and sang along. We were singing the praises of the RW Siaga Plus+ programme, a programme focused on improving the sanitary conditions of urban Jakarta, while marching to a healthy lifestyle competition.

While hanging out with the children before the competition, I was amazed to hear them brag about their lifestyle changes as many American children brag about a new pair of shoes or video game on the playground. They all told me about how, because of the RW Siaga Plus+ programme, they all wash their hands before eating and after going to the bathroom and always go to the bathroom in the toilet. In some of Jakarta's poorest neighborhoods — where water and sanitary facilities are scarce — this is quite an accomplishment and commitment.

Read more ▸

Jakarta's annual floods deluge and destroy property and displace families. They are especially harmful to the city's poorest neighborhoods. Mercy Corps and the World Bank are working to mitigate these floods and the impact of climate change. Photo: David Evans/Mercy Corps

Flooding in Jakarta — Indonesia's capital and biggest city — is a yearly occurrence that destroys property and displaces families, particularly in poor areas. The World Bank’s Jakarta Emergency Dredging Initiative — a £90 million project expected to begin implementation later in 2011 — intends to alleviate impacts of the city's annual flooding through the priority rehabilitation and dredging of existing floodways, drains and retentions. But it was a visit from Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Managing Director, to one of the Mercy Corps Climate Resilient Cities-Kelurahan Empowerment Initiative (CRC-KEI) sites that created a new perception for the organisation.

Read more ▸

As we pulled out of the Benghazi port into the clear, blue waters of the Mediterranean, it seemed more like we were on Greek island cruise than an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) boat headed for the city of Misrata, Libya. This would be Mercy Corps’ sixth trip to Misrata since April 17, 2011. I was a little nervous. Fadl Moukadem, who has been a near constant presence in Misrata since April, was excited to return to a place that had become a second home.

Misrata's Tripoli Street bears the scars of heavy fighting not long ago. Photo: Jill Morehead/Mercy Corps

I was seasick that entire first day. The next morning, I woke up grateful to not feel nauseous and went out on the deck of the ship to see what I could see. As I looked around, I noticed NATO warships dotting the horizon and their silhouettes immediately brought the game Battleship to mind. I knew we must be close to Misrata. On the other side of the boat, I could see the port of Misrata and was anxious to arrive.

After two days in Misrata and attending meetings until late in the evening, I continue to be in awe at the resilience, organisation and dedication of the Libyan people. For several blocks, we drove down Tripoli Street — where major fighting took place — and though I had seen photos, they can’t begin to prepare you for the sight of all that destruction. The buildings stand, damaged but proud, a constant reminder that it was a war zone just a couple weeks ago.

Read more ▸

Recipe demonstrations are the vehicle to teach rural families here in Guatemala how to improve nutritional status of their children. Photo: Martha Munocito/Mercy Corps

“Bienvenidos. "Loq ` le k`ulumnik. Welcome” to PROCOMIDA's final male recipe competition! This activity was done among three teams of field workers of Mercy Corps' PROCOMIDA programme to strengthen one of the educational activities organised with the beneficiaries: recipe demonstrations.

Recipe demonstrations are the vehicle to teach rural families here in Guatemala how to improve nutritional status of their children by using PROCOMIDA-provided food (pinto beans, vegetable oil, rice, and corn-soy flour) and mixing it with local cuisine. The recipe competition was the opportunity for three of the programme's male chefs to cook an original recipe and to teach the jury and public about the nutritional benefits, cost and creative taste of their dishes.

Read more ▸

In Sami Shakmak's restaurant, a volunteer cook makes part of a meal for thousands of people affected by Libya's ongoing crisis. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Just seven months ago, Sami Shakmak had big plans to open a nice restaurant in Benghazi and start a prosperous business. He bought a building and spent months renovating it and adding in special details to make the perfect ambiance for Libyan families to come and enjoy an evening out in Benghazi.

He installed a fountain, created a waterfall, built a large outdoor gazebo and had the entire interior remodeled. He even put in a special pizza oven to be sure his pizzas had the best crust in town.

Then, just weeks before his grand opening, the Libyan uprising began. Sami and his friends were at the protests from the beginning, supporting the popular uprising and call for democracy. But as the days passed and fighting began to take its toll on many towns, he felt he needed to do more than just protest.

Read more ▸

One of the most moving things for me on this job has been the number of people — almost all of them men of a certain age — we’ve spoken to who have seemed continuously on the point of tears, and yet instead of breaking down continued to do the unthanked, essential work they are doing.

There was the man running the volunteer centre in the devastated town of Minamisanriku who told us about how his wife had been washed away along with most of the town office as he in polite, oblique terms thanked us for suggesting we might bring a psychosocial programme to the town.

There was the garrulous, septuagenarian shop owner and proactive community member in Oshima, who called out “I — rab — yu” (the Japanesification of "I love you") the first time he saw me in the community centre that had become headquarters for the relief effort. When we saw him later at the makeshift ferry dock, he told us he greets and sees off all the boats now because immediately after the tsunami and the isolation, people would line up for hours before the boat left and, desperate to board, would push and shove, even pushing women, “and that is not acceptable,” he told us. “It’s better now, but I come for every boat to make sure.”

Read more ▸

Mercy Corps has been in Iraq’s four southernmost provinces — Basra, Maysan, Muthanna and Thi Qar — since 2003, implementing the USAID-funded Community Action Programme. Far from Baghdad, the area has experienced years of neglect from the central government, but is now poised to play a vital role in the international oil sector — particularly Basra, which sits atop some of the world’s largest oilfields. It’s an interesting environment, to say the least.

Enjoying the new playground equipment at a family park in Al Nashwa sub-district, Basra. Photo: Kiri Haggans/Mercy Corps

In the aftermath of years of war, insecurity and instability, southern Iraq is in great need of basic infrastructure development and improvements. And Mercy Corps is working with communities and their local government on hundreds of projects like this every year — pedestrian bridges that allow access to central markets and economic opportunity; repaving roads that connect villages to social services; and rehabilitation of water and electricity networks. All of these projects are identified and prioritized on the grassroots level, in the form of peer-elected Community Action Groups, which represent the communities themselves: development solutions coming from the ground up, not being handed down.

However, sometimes what a community wants most is a return to normalcy.

Read more ▸

Egypt's recent revolution has plagued Cairo's Zabbaleen community and other marginalised groups with uncertainty about their place in a quickly-changing society. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

With all the excitement and newness surrounding Egypt’s January Revolution, it can be easy to forget that Egyptians have been working for change in their country for decades. I recently met Marie Assad, an Egyptian woman in her mid-80s who has been working to help her fellow Egyptians for more than 50 years.

When asked about her take on the revolution, Marie said, “Egypt is a very old country with a new life.”

Read more ▸

Ramadan Sahiti with the hay baler his community was able to purchase through Mercy Corps’ Livelihoods Enhancement for Returnees programme. Photo: Blerim Cerkini/Mercy Corps

Ramadan Sahiti is a 37-year-old Roma farmer from the village of Koshare/Košare in southern Kosovo. Ramadan and his family recently returned to their home village of Koshare after a nearly 12-year absence; he and his family fled the village after their house was burnt down during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. The family has been unable to return to the village for lack of resources and employment opportunities since then.

But recently, through Mercy Corps’ Livelihoods Enhancement for Returnees programme, Ramadan learned of renewed economic opportunities and job support for those wishing to return to their homes. Moving into housing made available by the Municipality, Ramadan, his wife and four children returned to Koshare to restart their lives and recover the lost years.

Soon after returning, following a series of community meetings, local farmers nominated Ramadan to act as the primary representative of an agricultural improvement project with Mercy Corps and the local government. With a matching investment from the community, Mercy Corps supported Koshare to purchase and manage use of a hay baler, helping to resolve the problem of the lack of sufficient fodder for livestock and very high transportation costs to purchase and transport feed.

“As a result of this community project, so far I have made 20,000 hay bales [valued at more than £31,800] for 50 families to use for their livestock needs; and the surplus they will sell in the local market,” Ramadan boasts. “In addition, I helped six families with free-of-charge service, while other families have paid a 50 percent lower price than market rates during the season.”

Ramadan continues: “The equipment is essential for our needs, especially during spring and summer season. We help each other by sharing our equipment to plow, plant, harvest, bale and transport the bales. The villagers are happy to have the equipment nearby, because the weather in our area can cause trouble for the crop.”

With the new machinery, Ramadan and other farmers have increased the surface of land used by an average of more than 70 percent. With greater arable land and fewer household expenses going towards hay for livestock, farmers in Koshare have been able to increase the size of their livestock herds.

Ramadan reports monthly his earnings for the season of May to December 2010 at more than £180 each month, while employing three people who each earned around £156 per month. “I have increased my family’s herd to seven cows so now I’m able to earn a daily income of £9 by selling milk from my cows and £6 by selling milk from my 12 goats,” he continues. “This year, I will also have seven calves that I intend to sell and seven to nine goat kids that I’ll keep to increase the goat herd. Remember,” Ramadan takes a long pause, “last year I had only four dairy cows and no goats!”

With increased land planted, more feed for livestock and a growing herd of cattle and goats, Ramadan is better able to support his family of six, and they are more comfortable getting resettled in their new — old — home.

Read more ▸

Reham, who had never voted before last weekend's referendum in Egypt, looks at the voter card. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Just a few weeks ago I was in Cairo's Tahrir Square as the Egyptian people demanded their right to freedom and democracy. This weekend I had the opportunity to witness Egypt’s first steps towards the people’s long-awaited dream.

Egypt held its first free and fair election: a referendum that called for voters to either accept or reject eight constitutional amendments meant to establish the foundations for coming elections.

Throughout Egypt, people waited in long lines on Saturday to vote. In Cairo, people waited for more than three hours to cast their votes. Many said they were voting for the first time in their lives.

Reham casts her ballot. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Reham, a 27-year old banker who was a protestor just a few weeks ago in Tahrir Square, told me she had never voted prior to this referendum.

“Before I never bothered voting. It was so corrupt there was no reason to,” she told me as she waited patiently for her chance to vote.

Read more ▸