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EZRA MILLSTEIN PHOTOGRAPHY

Mercy Corps - Asia

  • Women transplant rice seedlings. They are members of a farmers group, which is helping them and the other farmers learn how to grow stronger, heartier crops in the face of worsening drought.Lombok is extremely vulnerable to climate change, with shorter rainy seasons and longer dry seasons that put precious harvests at risk.Mercy Corps has helped the farmers group he mentors endure drought with better farming practices and business training. Mercy Corps trains farmers to organize local farmers groups where farmers work together and support each other. They also learn to start agribusinesses to supplement their income.
  • Women farmers transplant rice seedlings in Pak Sahwil's fields. They are members of a farmers group, which is helping them and the other farmers learn how to grow stronger, heartier crops in the face of worsening drought.Lombok is extremely vulnerable to climate change, with shorter rainy seasons and longer dry seasons that put precious harvests at risk.Sahwil, 42, is a lifelong farmer on Lombok, and the son of rice farmers. He can recall the dry seasons as far back as 15 years. As he gets older, he worries about longer droughts causing harvest failure. “Sometimes, climate change causes failure. What I feel the most is a long dry season,” he says.On Lombok, the dry season is now regularly starting a month earlier and lasting a month longer, leading to dangerous water shortages for farmers. “I’m very worried. Not just for next year, but even for this year. Accessing water is becoming difficult,” Pak Sawhil says.Mercy Corps has helped Pak Sawhil and the farmers group he mentors endure drought with better farming practices and business training. “Our objective as farmers is to increase our production. Because the Mercy Corps mission is the same as ours, we cooperate. This is a good opportunity, in my opinion,” he says.Mercy Corps trains farmers like Pak Sawhil to organize local farmers groups where farmers work together and support each other. They also learn to start agribusinesses to supplement their income.Pak Sawhil also works for the governmental agriculture agency. When he saw how Mercy Corps was improving local farmers, he extended the partnership to other districts. “Because Mercy Corps is successful with my group, I share the knowledge with the group in this village,” he says.
  • Pak Sahwil, 42, stands in his vegetable fields. He is a rice farmer on Lombok in eastern Indonesia. Mercy Corps is helping him and the 60 other farmers in his farmers group learn how to grow stronger, heartier crops in the face of worsening drought.Lombok is extremely vulnerable to climate change, with shorter rainy seasons and longer dry seasons that put precious harvests at risk.A lifelong farmer on Lombok—and the son of rice farmers—Pak Sahwil can recall the dry seasons as far back as 15 years. As he gets older, he worries about longer droughts causing harvest failure. “Sometimes, climate change causes failure. What I feel the most is a long dry season,” he says.On Lombok, the dry season is now regularly starting a month earlier and lasting a month longer, leading to dangerous water shortages for farmers. “I’m very worried. Not just for next year, but even for this year. Accessing water is becoming difficult,” Pak Sahwil says.Mercy Corps has helped Pak Sahwil and the farmers group he mentors endure drought with better farming practices and business training. “Our objective as farmers is to increase our production. Because the Mercy Corps mission is the same as ours, we cooperate. This is a good opportunity, in my opinion,” he says.Mercy Corps trains farmers like Pak Sahwil to organize local farmers groups where farmers work together and support each other. They also learn to start agribusinesses to supplement their income.Pak Sahwil also works for the governmental agriculture agency. When he saw how Mercy Corps was improving local farmers, he extended the partnership to other districts. “Because Mercy Corps is successful with my group, I share the knowledge with the group in this village,” he says.
  • Ida sits on bags of recently harvested rice. At 23 years old, she is the youngest female farmer in Terara, a small village on the island of Lombok. As far as she knows, she’s the youngest farmer in all four neighboring villages as well.Ida started working in the rice fields when she was 13 years old, in the seventh grade. She learned how to farm by watching her parents and her two older brothers, who’ve been farming since she was born. Ida’s dream was to become a pilot — to explore outside of her village. Instead, she’s followed in the footsteps of her family. She dropped out of school after the ninth grade, in 2012, as a result of mounting pressure from her parents – particularly her mother – who felt she should be helping them in the field instead of studying.Ida’s mom holds a very conservative, traditional Indonesian view. She never went to school, and believes there’s no need for girls to pursue higher education. In part, because it’s difficult to find jobs with or without education, but mostly because she believes they’re needed most at home – to take care of the family and tend to the fields. When Ida’s asked if she enjoys farming, she says she does because she has to, because there’s no other choice.As the treasurer of her farmer group, Ida is one of the most trusted members in her community, tasked with tracking and managing finances each month. It’s a position with great responsibility, which requires high attention to detail.Mercy Corps is helping Ida and her group produce greater yields in the face of an increasingly challenging climate by providing training on effective farming practices. We have also provided training in administration and financial reporting, so Ida and other leaders of her group are better positioned to help their group stay strong. Mercy Corps has also connected Ida to Mandiri Cash, which has allowed her to both save time and money — about 2 million rupiah of her own savings ($143 USD).
  • Pak Sahwil, 42, stands in his fields. He is a rice farmer on Lombok in eastern Indonesia. Mercy Corps is helping him and the 60 other farmers in his farmers group learn how to grow stronger, heartier crops in the face of worsening drought.Lombok is extremely vulnerable to climate change, with shorter rainy seasons and longer dry seasons that put precious harvests at risk.A lifelong farmer on Lombok—and the son of rice farmers—Pak Sahwil can recall the dry seasons as far back as 15 years. As he gets older, he worries about longer droughts causing harvest failure. “Sometimes, climate change causes failure. What I feel the most is a long dry season,” he says.On Lombok, the dry season is now regularly starting a month earlier and lasting a month longer, leading to dangerous water shortages for farmers. “I’m very worried. Not just for next year, but even for this year. Accessing water is becoming difficult,” Pak Sahwil says.Mercy Corps has helped Pak Sahwil and the farmers group he mentors endure drought with better farming practices and business training. “Our objective as farmers is to increase our production. Because the Mercy Corps mission is the same as ours, we cooperate. This is a good opportunity, in my opinion,” he says.Mercy Corps trains farmers like Pak Sahwil to organize local farmers groups where farmers work together and support each other. They also learn to start agribusinesses to supplement their income.Pak Sahwil also works for the governmental agriculture agency. When he saw how Mercy Corps was improving local farmers, he extended the partnership to other districts. “Because Mercy Corps is successful with my group, I share the knowledge with the group in this village,” he says.
  • Muhammad Nuh Gazali, 39, holds his son, Muhammad Cholil Al Gazali, 4, at the end of a day of harvesting.Indonesia’s farmers help feed 249 million people. But climate change is threatening their way of life with longer droughts and erratic rainy seasons that threaten the harvests they rely on.In Indonesia, climate change is an ever-present reality. The average temperature in Lombok has risen nearly three degrees since 1948, and is predicted to rise another two degrees by 2060—a dangerous reality for farmers who depend on the climate to survive.Droughts in Lombok can last for months and threaten the precious harvests that farmers rely on. Rainfall in Indonesia has decreased by 3 percent since 1900 and climate change is expected to get worse over the next 50 years.Lombok is predicted to experience a massive decline in water reserves by 2030, threatening the island’s farmers and the people who rely on their harvests to survive.In just 20 years, the risk of crop failure due to climate change is expected to double on Lombok.In one of the world’s most vulnerable places to climate change, Mercy Corps has helped more than 6,000 farmers increase their yields and the incomes that support their families. Over the next three years, Mercy Corps aims to help 20,000 rice farmers in Indonesia increase their incomes by at least 28 percent.Mercy Corps teaches rice farmers how to select the best seeds to plant and the best time of year to plant them, as well as how to detect and treat disease.
  • Muhammad Nuh Gazali, 39, stands among smoke from burning rice chaff at the end of a day of harvesting. Indonesia’s farmers help feed 249 million people. But climate change is threatening their way of life with longer droughts and erratic rainy seasons that threaten the harvests they rely on.In Indonesia, climate change is an ever-present reality. The average temperature in Lombok has risen nearly three degrees since 1948, and is predicted to rise another two degrees by 2060—a dangerous reality for farmers who depend on the climate to survive.Droughts in Lombok can last for months and threaten the precious harvests that farmers rely on. Rainfall in Indonesia has decreased by 3 percent since 1900 and climate change is expected to get worse over the next 50 years.Lombok is predicted to experience a massive decline in water reserves by 2030, threatening the island’s farmers and the people who rely on their harvests to survive.In just 20 years, the risk of crop failure due to climate change is expected to double on Lombok.In one of the world’s most vulnerable places to climate change, Mercy Corps has helped more than 6,000 farmers increase their yields and the incomes that support their families. Over the next three years, Mercy Corps aims to help 20,000 rice farmers in Indonesia increase their incomes by at least 28 percent.Mercy Corps teaches rice farmers how to select the best seeds to plant and the best time of year to plant them, as well as how to detect and treat disease.
  • Rainbows form over the beautiful, rugged mountains of central Timor-Leste, one of the hungriest countries in the world. Low crop diversity is only compounded by frequent floods and landslides during the rainy season and drought conditions during the dry season, which pose serious threats to food security. Nearly one-quarter of the population is undernourished, and more than 50 percent of children under 5 are stunted. During the lean season each year, from October to March, nearly two-thirds of the population suffers food shortages.Mercy Corps is helping vulnerable farming communities work together to increase their resilience in the face of climate change, providing the tools and resources they need to grow stronger crops and persevere.
  • Romeo, 28, holds his daughter Maria, 2. His niece Lourdes is a 19-year-old girl whose dream is to become the Minister of Education. For four years now, she’s been using a solar lantern provided by Mercy Corps to study at night, after completing her daily chores.When asked if she had any advice or words of encouragement to share with other, younger Timorese girls who are chasing their own dreams, Lourdes said {quote}Being young, a girl, is something to be grateful for. Take the opportunity to chase your dreams — while your parents are still here, while they’re still able to educate you and send you to school. Go to school, and take advantage of any opportunity to focus on your dreams. Don’t think about something else. Most girls in Timor marry young. Please, don’t get married young. Finish your education, find a job, and help your parents, give back to your parents for helping educate you.”
  • Moises Lopes, 10, rests after collecting water in the central highlands of Timor-Leste. His village has benefitted from Mercy Corps programs. Americo Pereira, 45, is a community leader from Mulo. He says that Mercy Corps M-RED program has benefitted the village tremendously. “I’m really thankful and happy for all the things that the Mercy Corps M-RED program has done for us. Before, we didn't have any knowledge of farming techniques, but because of the Mercy Corps intervention, now we understand and know how to use techniques to make sure that we have a good plantation and a good harvest.”Farming in Timor-Leste depends on the dry and rainy seasons. Because of climate change, the dry seasons are longer and the rains are harder to predict. That leaves farmers with less to feed their families.Hunger is a serious problem in Timor-Leste, where most families in the rural mountains depend on farming to survive. Mercy Corps is helping farmers manage their own farmers groups, where local communities pull together rather than work alone.
  • Cazmira Cordoso lives in the remote mountainous village of Mulo, where Mercy Corps is helping 20 households work together to feed their children, make a living, and become more resilient to the adverse effects of climate change.Villagers’ homes and garden plots are scattered up and down a steep mountainside. There’s evidence of climate stress everywhere. Cracked dirt and clouds of dust show signs of little rain. Steep drop offs show the trails of past landslides, and new man-made barriers (gabion baskets, or caged rocks) stand waiting to shield homes and roads from the next.The dry seasons are getting longer here and the rains are becoming harder to predict. That leaves farmers like Cazmira with less to feed their families. As the dry season gets worse, life will only get harder. Knowing how to properly plant and care for their crops has become a key ingredient to a good harvest. Because they might not be able to control the weather, but they can make sure they’re using the best practices to increase their chances of success.With training from Mercy Corps, Cazmira’s community is growing legumes (red beans) to eat and sell. They’ve also built a wall of bamboo to protect their gardens further downhill from future landslides and flash floods.Each household has their own plot of legumes, but they all support one another. Together they plant and harvest as a group, and then sell and divide the earnings.Cazmira and the other women in her group plant these legumes twice a year. This crop, planted before the dry season, will likely die. The ones that survive will be used for seed for the rainy season. Those will be sold to provide for their families. Each household produces about 20 buckets of legumes a year. Each bucket (25 liters) sells for $30 USD.Through the M-RED program, Mercy Corps is working with 35 other vulnerable small farming communities in Timor-Leste who are living in hazard-prone areas vulnerable to drought, flash floods and landslides. By employing smart farming techniques and taking various disaster risk reduction measures, these communities are becoming more resilient to the adverse effects of climate change.
  • Evaristo Soares, 40, stands next to his bamboo rainwater collection system. His remote rural community is a three-hour walk from the nearest market. Climate change has disrupted the rainy seasons they have depended on for generations, making it especially challenging for this community of 39 families to provide for themselves. Rains are scarce, and water is precious.Earlier this year, Mercy Corps taught Evaristo and the other farmers in his community to build rainwater harvesting systems out of bamboo to collect precious rainwater and better endure Timor-Leste’s worsening dry seasons. Before this rainwater collection system, Evaristo and his community had to walk 40 minutes to the nearest water source — and during the dry season, there was often nothing but a dry riverbed. Evaristo says “We love the keyhole gardening and the rainwater harvesting because these two things support each other. Before, we depended on the coffee. We harvested it once or twice a year and had to wait to sell and be able to buy things. Now we have keyhole gardening and we have water to water our vegetables and all the vegetation in the garden. Even in just two months we can harvest something and sell it.”
  • Sabitri Phuyal and her husband, Shyam Prasad Dahal, work in their vegetable fields, surrounded by boulders that rained down on their village during the earthquake of 2015. They depended on their vegetable farm for food and income until the 2015 earthquakes triggered a landslide that wiped out their fields and made it unsafe for them to live in their home. They lived in a temporary shelter with four other families for nine months, and couldn’t work, until Mercy Corps built a gabion wall that secured the hillside above the couple’s home. After the wall was built, Shyam and Sabitri finally felt safe enough to return and begin rebuilding their lives. They took a Mercy Corps’-facilitated vegetable farming training and received plastic sheeting to build a greenhouse, and also participated in Mercy Corps’ family dialogue training, which helps women and heads of household work to together to become stronger and more resilient. “We had lost all hope of coming back. With all that happened, we don't have enough wealth to relocate somewhere else and start a new life as well. So we got encouragement to start farming here, start making our livelihood here again,” says Shyam. “I feel happy when he asks me for my opinion,” Sabitri says. “Before he would just do it himself, and he would work in the fields himself. And I would just think, 'OK that's his job. I'll just let him do it.' But when he asks me, I feel like, 'OK, this is my responsibility too.' I feel good about it. “
  • Sabitri Phuyal weeds her family's tomato plants. She and her husband Shyam Prasad depended on their vegetable farm for food and income until the 2015 earthquakes triggered a landslide that wiped out their fields and made it unsafe for them to live in their home. They lived in a temporary shelter with four other families for nine months, and couldn’t work, until Mercy Corps built a gabion wall that secured the hillside above the couple’s home. After the wall was built, Shyam and Sabitri finally felt safe enough to return and begin rebuilding their lives. They took a Mercy Corps’-facilitated vegetable farming training and received plastic sheeting to build a greenhouse, and also participated in Mercy Corps’ family dialogue training, which helps women and heads of household work to together to become stronger and more resilient. “We had lost all hope of coming back. With all that happened, we don't have enough wealth to relocate somewhere else and start a new life as well. So we got encouragement to start farming here, start making our livelihood here again,” says Shyam. “I feel happy when he asks me for my opinion,” Sabitri says. “Before he would just do it himself, and he would work in the fields himself. And I would just think, 'OK that's his job. I'll just let him do it.' But when he asks me, I feel like, 'OK, this is my responsibility too.' I feel good about it. “
  • Sunmaya Rumba lives at the top of a tall, craggly stone staircase in a community badly affected by the 2015 earthquakes. Her home still shows the damage: the second story is pocked and cracked and looks as though it may crumble at any moment. When Sunmaya heard Mercy Corps’ was providing mason training to help people rebuild earthquake resistant homes, she was motivated to help her community recover and mobilized a group in her community to participate. She successfully completed the 50-day training to become a mason, and though it’s difficult for her to get hired as a woman, she was able to use her skills to rebuild the home of her mother-in-law, Thulimaya Waiba (in background), which was destroyed in the disaster.
  • Sunmaya Rumba lives at the top of a tall, craggly stone staircase in a community badly affected by the 2015 earthquakes. Her home still shows the damage: the second story is pocked and cracked and looks as though it may crumble at any moment. When Sunmaya heard Mercy Corps’ was providing mason training to help people rebuild earthquake resistant homes, she was motivated to help her community recover and mobilized a group in her community to participate. Sunmaya successfully completed the 50-day training to become a mason, and though it’s difficult for her to get hired as a woman, she was able to use her skills to rebuild the home of her mother-in-law, which was destroyed in the disaster.
  • Anjana Chaudhary, 16, is a bashful, giggly teenager with sparkly eyes and huge smile. She is in grade 9 at the secondary school in her village, a rural area in westernmost Nepal where girls face extreme challenges to receiving an education, including the pressure to marry early, unequal household responsibilities, and a lack of familial support. Over 50 percent of girls in Kailari are not enrolled in school, and 40 percent are married before their 18th birthday. Mercy Corps’ STEM program supports in-school girls with extra tutoring sessions in math and science two days per week to help them complete their education. Mercy Corps also improves infrastructure when needed; Anjana’s school received a water tap and improved sanitation facilities, that lack of which were previously causing dropouts. Participating in the program has helped Anjana build confidence and thrive in her classes, and she plans to stay in school so she can get a good job when she is older. {quote}I was able to learn more than in regular school,{quote} she says of the tutoring sessions. I wanted to do it, {quote}because it will make my future bright.{quote} Anjana’s mother, Balkumari, also participated in the parent training Mercy Corps facilitated at the school, which aims to increase parents’ support of girls’ education.
  • Dil Kumarf Poudel, 35, cares for her two children and runs her household alone, as her husband has migrated to Malaysia to work as a daily wage laborer. Livelihood opportunities are scarce here, especially for girls, who face incredible barriers to education and income generation, including the pressure to marry early, unequal household responsibilities, and a lack of familial support. Dil married at 15 — while in grade 8 — but continued her studies, even though it was difficult. However, after she failed her grade 10 exam and got pregnant, she dropped out completely, instead tending to her children full time and supporting them with them with agricultural work. She regretted not completing her education and felt her life could never improve. (The grade 10 exam is equivalent to a high school diploma and is required for higher education or skilled work.)Mercy Corps’ STEM program supports out-of-school girls age 16-30 with life skills education, financial literacy classes and access to loans, so they can build better livelihoods and improve their lives. Dil began attending the program meetings several years ago, a move that transformed her view of herself and helped her build the confidence to retake her grade 10 exam and complete her education. With her grade 10 certification, she has been able to take a position on the board of the local school and now works to improve its facilities and ensure students get the education they deserve.
  • Seema Chaudhary, 23, separates lentils from chaff. For years Lalitpur — a small, indigenous Tharu village of 22 households — was at risk from the nearby river: the water would rise repeatedly, and quickly, wiping out crops and livestock and forcing families from their homes. Ten years ago the flooding was so bad it killed all the livestock and displaced the entire community. Mercy Corps’ M-RED program operates in this region — which is highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters — building mitigation structures and helping communities strengthen their livelihoods and prepare for future crises. With Mercy Corps’ support, Seema’s community worked together to plant sugarcane along the river bank to hold back the water, and began cultivating it in the nearby fields to sell to nearby sugar factories. The flood risk was decreased so much after the planting the community was able to reclaim 40 hectares of land for farming and living, and they continue to grow sugarcane together for income that is invested in shared equipment and resources for the community.
  • Soniya Devi Chaudhary, 54, separates lentils from chaff.For years Lalitpur — a small, indigenous Tharu village of 22 households — was at risk from the nearby river: the water would rise repeatedly, and quickly, wiping out crops and livestock and forcing families from their homes. Ten years ago the flooding was so bad it killed all the livestock and displaced the entire community. Mercy Corps’ M-RED program operates in this region — which is highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters — building mitigation structures and helping communities strengthen their livelihoods and prepare for future crises. With Mercy Corps’ support, Soniya’s community worked together to plant sugarcane along the river bank to hold back the water, and began cultivating it in the nearby fields to sell to nearby sugar factories. The flood risk was decreased so much after the planting the community was able to reclaim 40 hectares of land for farming and living, and they continue to grow sugarcane together for income that is invested in shared equipment and resources for the community. Soniya also participated in Mercy Corps’ financial literacy training and has learned how to save money. She says she now raises pigs and grows other vegetables now that the risk of flooding is lower.
  • Sarita Chaudhary, 54, plants sugarcane. For years her community — a small, indigenous Tharu village of 22 households — was at risk from the nearby river: the water would rise repeatedly, and quickly, wiping out crops and livestock and forcing families from their homes. Ten years ago the flooding was so bad it killed all the livestock and displaced the entire community. Without animals or land to farm on, Sarita had no way to provide for her children, and nowhere else to go. To help Sarita and the community build resilience to climate-related flooding, Mercy Corps helped them learn to grow sugarcane, planting it along the river bank to hold back the water and cultivating it in the nearby fields to be sell to local sugar factories for income. The flood risk was decreased so much after the planting the community was able to reclaim 40 hectares of land for farming and living, allowing every family to return home, including Sarita’s.
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