Be the Change - When you look at the world and yourself, what do you see?

January 2, 2007

When you look at the world and yourself, what do you see?(World) Be the Change - Watch video:http://www.mercycorps.org/aboutus/overview/784(Yourself) Be the Change - The Secret beautiful introduction movie:http://youtube.com/watch?v=phL0RLKL8bcBe The Change (.wmv format) For Windows Media Player - Be The Change (.mov format) For Apple Quicktime

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world" - Mahatma Ghandi

2006: A Year in Humanitarian Pictures

Images source:http://www.mercycorps.org/aboutus/overview/1574

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Niamey, Niger - Fati Issia, 25, holds her seven-month-old son Moctar, who is suffering from malnutrition. Since a drought and insect swarms hit already-impoverished Niger two years ago, families have courageously struggled to make ends meet and put food on the table - a sometimes-impossible task. Mercy Corps is helping mothers take care of malnourished children through an innovative therapeutic feeding and health program. So far, more than 16,500 children have been involved in the program and are on the way to recovery. Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

Reqane, Kosovo - More than seven years after a brutal war displaced more than 700,000 Albanian Kosovars and terrorized millions more, the status of Kosovo is still unresolved. As the year draws to a close, status talks - which are discussing the possible independence of the one-time part of Yugoslavia and now UN-administered province of Serbia - are underway. Even as uncertainty reigns, once-displaced citizens like 56 year-old Mejka Asllani are doing their part to rebuild local economies and prepare for the future. Mercy Corps has been working alongside them since 1993. Photo: Roger Burks/Mercy Corps

Darfur, Sudan — Still more families fled their homes in the wake of continued violence in western Sudan in 2006, as the world's largest humanitarian crisis stretched into its fourth year. Mercy Corps continued working to make life bearable for residents of displacement camps housing more than 100,000 people, helping run schools, ensuring clean water, and teaching a variety of skill-building classes to women. Photo: Linda Mason for Mercy Corps

Al Mawassi, Gaza — Squeezed by a near-total freeze on goods and people moving in or out of this narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea, Gazans saw their already low standard of living plummet in 2006. Linda El Laham and her family received emergency packages of food, cookware and household items from Mercy Corps during a May distribution. The World Food Program estimates half of all Palestinians are unable to meet their basic food needs without assistance. Amid the continuing insecurity caused by Israeli incursions and internecine fighting, Mercy Corps launched a new jobs program in central Gaza last month. Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

Near Buchanan, Liberia — In 2006, the West African country founded by liberated American slaves inaugurated Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's only woman president — and arguably Liberia's first-ever democratically elected leader. Mercy Corps also took part in an inauguration of sorts when we blew the opening whistle on our new program, Yes to Soccer, designed to give young people knowledge and lifeskills to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS. Nike and Grassroot Soccer are partners. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

New Orleans, Louisiana - On a hot Sunday in August, renowned New Orleans musical artists came together to commemorate the spirit of their city - and its survival after Hurricane Katrina. Congo Square was chosen to host Mercy Corps' Rhythmic Roots event because of its importance to New Orleans history and culture. Here, the first pulses of New Orleans music were felt - drum circles and dances that evoked African traditions. Three-year-old Olivia got into the spirit of the afternoon by beating on a traditional drum. Children were well-represented in the crowd of 2,000 revelers. Photo: Roger Burks/Mercy Corps

Kaifoun, Lebanon - The summertime war between Hezbollah and Israel temporarily uprooted nearly a million Lebanese, creating a sudden and unexpected crisis in the Middle East. Many residents of southern Beirut suburbs targeted by Israeli warplanes fled to the Chouf mountains northeast of the city, where Mercy Corps delivered food supplies to over 25,000 people holed up in schools, government buildings and private homes. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Kurshab, Kyrgyzstan — Political uncertainty continued to rattle Central Asia's most economically liberal republic a year after the Tulip Revolution marked a new era for this mountainous, landlocked nation. Our work to improve the physical condition of the nation's public schools, however, continued into its third year. Mercy Corps helped this school, in the densely populated Ferghana Valley, pay for a new roof after the old one collapsed in a winter snowstorm. Photo: Jason Sangster for Mercy Corps

Ogonyo, Uganda - As the year closes in Uganda, almost 2 million people displaced by war are hoping that ongoing peace talks succeed in the New Year. One of them is Cecilia Lamunu, who holds an oil lamp in her tiny hut during our visit in early October. Mercy Corps is working in northern Uganda's conflict-torn Pader District to help Acholi families achieve food security and renew their agricultural traditions as they make their way back to long-abandoned home villages. Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps