https://ezramillstein.com/ weekly 1.0 https://ezramillstein.com/clients/exhibitions/awards monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/about monthly 0.8 https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/4R3A7425_1.jpg https://ezramillstein.com/contact monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/travels-in-india monthly 0.8 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04310_2.jpg Madurai, India 2004 First Place People Category Smithsonian Magazine 4th Annual Photo Contest Washington, DC March, 2007 3rd Place 10th National Juried Art Exhibition Baker Arts Center Liberal, Kansas January, 2007 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04084.jpg Pondicherry, India 2004 Honorable Mention “Colors of Life” 2006 International Photo Contest Richmond, Virginia February, 2007 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03356.jpg Mumbai, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03367.jpg Mumbai, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04091.jpg Pondicherry, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04225b.jpg Varanasi, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04286.jpg Varanasi, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03119b.jpg Diu, India 2004 Selection 2006 International Exhibition of Fine Art Photography Juried Exhibition The Center for Fine Art Photography Fort Collins, CO https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03345.jpg Mumbai, India 2003 Selection REMIX: East-West Currents in Contemporary Art Juried Exhibition Arlington Arts Center 2006 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04145.jpg Sikkim, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03252.jpg Manali, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04153.jpg Sikkim, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03314.jpg Palolem, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03318.jpg Palolem, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03312.jpg Palolem, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04242.jpg Varanasi, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04237b.jpg Varanasi, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03066.jpg Jodhpur, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03045.jpg Udaipur, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03040b.jpg Udaipur, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03223.jpg Munnar, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04012b.jpg Thiruvananthapuram, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04122.jpg Nagercoil, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04023.jpg Kolkata, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04027.jpg Kolkata, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04078.jpg Kolkata, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04006.jpg Mumbai, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04108.jpg Vijayawada, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04357.jpg Madurai, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind04049.jpg Kolkata, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03213.jpg Kerala, India 2004 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03120.jpg Cochin, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03169.jpg Cochin, India 2003 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ind03185.jpg Cochin, India 2003 https://ezramillstein.com/yemen-conflict monthly 0.8 https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_i73v6n_yemen-201809-emillstein-0189.jpg Lahj, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 Hasan supports 14 family members, including his three children. His father and brother died in recent airstrikes. Many of his neighbors left the village at different times, fleeing the violence. He and his family chose to stay. They found it hard to get food, but received cash from Mercy Corps, which he used for medicine for his son, and food for the family. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_lw9p3e_yemen-201809-emillstein-2121.jpg Al Thurba, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 One year-old Anwar gets treatment at a mobile malnutrition clinic. He has been sick and malnourished, taking a turn for the worse when his family was forced to flee their home due to conflict. Families like his find relative safety in more rural areas, but these places can be difficult to access and pose challenges to getting resources like food and medical care. “During that trip, he was having diarrhea and vomiting,” explains his mother Sahar. “He was in a difficult situation. The trip took us three days, and there is no place on the road to take him to a hospital, so we just had to keep our focus on getting him here.” Mobile malnutrition screening clinics are one of several ways Mercy Corps is solving the challenges posed by the mountainous terrain of Yemen. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_13oatj_yemen-201809-emillstein-1249.jpg Lahj, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 Samira was widowed more than two decades ago, and has been working singelhandedly to support her family. Mercy Corps helped her by providing some goats, which she breeds and sells. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_89tlv6_yemen-201809-emillstein-1015.jpg Lahj, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 Ali, 9, peeks through the doorway of his family's home. His father Wassim used to work as a day laborer, trying to find work wherever he could to support his four children, but jobs are scarce in war-torn Yemen. He would travel far and still not be guaranteed to find enough work to support his family’s basic needs. Wassim was hired by a Mercy Corps cash-for-work project, and helped build an irrigation channel. He used the money to buy a cow and some sheep, and opened a vegetable stand, so he could begin to earn a regular income. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_p5lo21_yemen-201809-emillstein-1972.jpg Al Thurba, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 Fatima and her family fled the fighting in Hodeida, and took refuge in an abandonded school with more than 60 other families. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_pdkdtz_yemen-201809-emillstein-2037.jpg Al Thurba, Yemen SEPTEMBER, 2018 Entikhab has four children and is pregnant with her fifth. She and her family fled fighting in the port city of Hodeida, taking refuge in an abandoned school with more than 60 other families. “One day we woke up to the sound of rockets, Entikhab says. “We were really afraid. We didn’t feel safe. We sold everything we had, everything so we could leave.” They now live in a stairwell and the kids sleep with only a couple of blankets between them and the hard-tiled floor, kept up at night by rats and stinging insects. The family received emergency cash from Mercy Corps, which enabled Entikhab to purchase cooking fuel to safely prepare meals for her children. But their needs are still immense. “You can clearly see how difficult our situation is,” Entikhab says. “Our life is so hard. I am trying to go out and find work. Sometimes I come home with no money, and we go to sleep without food.” https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_hit8dd_yemen-201809-emillstein-1968.jpg Al Thurba, Yemen SEPTEMBER, 2018 Safiha and other members of a marginalized community in Yemen fled violence on Hodieda and sought shelter in an abandoned school. Around 60 families live here, but with no running water, no cooking facilities or bathrooms, and broken windows and doors, the building provides only the most rudimentary shelter. The space is sweltering in summer and bone-chillingly cold in winter, and infested with rats and insects. Safiha received a cash distribution from Mercy Corps to help her meet her basic needs. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_6qw00n_yemen-201809-emillstein-1902_1.jpg Al Thurba, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 This woman and her 3 week-old baby fled violence in Hodeida, and sought shelter in an abandoned school. Around 60 families live here, but with no running water, no cooking facilities or bathrooms, and broken windows and doors, the building provides only the most rudimentary shelter. The space is sweltering in summer and bone-chillingly cold in winter, and infested with rats and insects. She received a cash distribution from Mercy Corps to help her meet her basic needs. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_tcpwjf_yemen-201809-emillstein-1868.jpg Al Thurba, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 Fatima is a mother of six. She and her children fled escalating violence in Hodeida, and found shelter with other members from their marginalized community in an abandoned school. Her husband is injured and cannot seek work so, without an income, they struggle to meet their basic needs. The family received emergency cash from Mercy Corps which they used to purchase food and clothing for the children. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_mph7lr_yemen-201809-emillstein-3399-copy.jpg Al Mahweet, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 Abdullah and his 7-year-old daughter Nehan in a cholera isolation unit, where Nehan has just begun receiving treatment. Mercy Corps is providing cholera clinics with beds, IV fluids and water to help them meet the increasing needs of patients like her. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_ih2jcb_yemen-201809-emillstein-3669_1.jpg Al Mahweet, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 When Khalid’s younger son, Mohammed, fell severely ill from cholera, he carried him for two hours on his back through the mountains to receive treatment. His 10-year-old son Ali is also sick. Mercy Corps is providing cholera clinics in Yemen with beds, IV fluids and water to help them meet the increasing needs of patients like Mohammed. “They are providing us with everything, as I have nothing,” Khalid says of the clinic. “Whenever one of my family members get sick, I just bring them here.” https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_p0ykoa_yemen-201809-emillstein-5212_1.jpg Al Mahweet, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 Rassam, 7, with a jerrycan full of water. His mother Nadia has one wish: for the war in Yemen to stop. Because of the current conflict, her kids can’t attend school; they don’t have enough food; they can’t afford to go to the doctor; and they live in constant fear. “With the current war, there is no future for us or for our kids,” she says. Mercy Corps built a water point in their community, providing them with a safe, affordable source of clean water. Now that they don’t have to rely on expensive water trucking, they can focus their income on other things they need to survive. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_uhoxih_yemen-201809-emillstein-6185.jpg Al Mahweet, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 Malak stands in the hallways of her family's home. Her father Najib is a skilled laborer, a mason and plasterer, but the crisis in Yemen has made it difficult for him to support his family. Mercy Corps hired him as part of a cash-for-work program to build a retaining wall. When people have a marketable skill, it improves their chances and gives them more ways to survive. https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_imezic_yemen-201809-emillstein-6018.jpg Al Mahweet, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 https://storage.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/smgs4yxw_hgvj19rn_9kbrxj_yemen-201809-emillstein-7132.jpg Al Mahweet, Yemen SEPTEMBER 2018 The rugged mountains of northern Yemen. https://ezramillstein.com/syria-crisis monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/recovering-from-boko-haram monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/children-of-mosul monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/mercy-corps---africa monthly 0.8 https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/kenya-201802-emillstein-1117_1.jpg Mercy Corps - Africa | ezramillstein.com View Mercy Corps - Africa by ezramillstein.com. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/kenya-201803-emillstein-1980.jpg Anole, Kenya MARCH 2018 Kaltuma Sheikh Abdullahi, 30, stares out at a reclaimed reservoir in Anole, a small village about 85 km northeast of Wajir. Mercy Corps helped expand the reservoir so the community could get through the drought that has been punishing the region. Mercy Corps also helped to set up an system to control animal access to the water so to avoid disease and fouling of the water. With a pastoral economy based on herding livestock, Kaltuma and her neighbors feel every twitch of the climate, and lately, the rains have been all wrong. Previously the rains used to come twice a year: once at the beginning of the year and once at the end. Now the rains are less frequent and lighter. Sometimes it will be two years between rains, and although it had rained the night before Mercy Corps visited the village, turning the packed dirt roads to muddy rivers (the first rain since the end of November), it was only one day, and it’s not enough to do much against a four-year drought. To help communities like Kaltuma's 30 adapt to climate change, Mercy Corps has conducted awareness campaigns on how to protect natural resources. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/4R3A6717_1.jpg Mercy Corps - Africa | ezramillstein.com View Mercy Corps - Africa by ezramillstein.com. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-3480_1.jpg Ale, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Kegna, 8, carries grass on a steep hillside near Ale. Mercy Corps is working with villagers to protect their land so they have enough grass to feed their cattle and survive the dry season. As drought becomes worse, rangeland like this becomes more precious to keep cattle healthy. Mercy Corps is helping villagers protect their land so they can sell cattle at a profit to survive the worsening dry season. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-2283_1.jpg Ale, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Otitte, 24, cuts grass on a steep hillside near Ale. Mercy Corps is working with villagers to protect their land so they have enough grass to feed their cattle and survive the dry season. As drought becomes worse, rangeland like this becomes more precious to keep cattle healthy. Mercy Corps is helping villagers protect their land so they can sell cattle at a profit to survive the worsening dry season. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-1246_1.jpg Ale, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 During the dry season, there is no water in the river and Manase, 40, must dig through sand until she hits water. “The water problem in our village is very serious,” she says. She and her husband grow teff, maize, and sorghum to support their seven children. Her husband leads a savings group that helps support the community when crops fail. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-4278_1.jpg Kanso, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Beyene, 42, and his son Kefita, 17, hold a eucalyptus seedling at their nursery deep in the forest outside Konso. They also grow coffee, avocado and mango, and sell them to their local agriculture office. Beyene won a 100,000 birr ($3,500 USD) grant from Mercy Corps to expand his business, which he used to buy more plants, build a water basin, and construct a shed. “Previously, I had only ambition,” he says. “It was a complete surprise to me…I felt like I was born again.” https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-5125_1.jpg Gidole, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Aselefech, 32, holds a mold used to make cookstoves. Mercy Corps trained her to build clean cookstoves alongside three other mothers and provided support to put her kids through school. In Gidole, Mercy Corps is helping promote girls’ education by supporting women and children through the PEG program. The students receive support to finish their education, and their mothers receive job skills training and small business support. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-5731_1.jpg Gidole, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Rahima (24) with her 5 month-old son Robin. Rahima is studying electrical engineering in university thanks in part to support she received from Mercy Corps while in high school. Through the PEG program, Mercy Corps is helping provide school materials for girls in Gidole and income-generating activities for their mothers. Mercy Corps provided school uniforms and supplies for Rahima and helped train her mother to start her own business. Rahima will graduate from Arba Minch University with a degree in electrical engineering—the first girl in her family to graduate school. “First, education is a tool that widens your horizons,” she says. “Second, it is through education that you can do something in the future. Without education, everything is meaningless. But through education you can create your own income. Education is very important, not only for me but for other girls.” https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-6057_1.jpg Gidole, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Rahima (24) sits outside at her alma mater, Gidole High School. Rahima is studying electrical engineering in university thanks in part to support she received from Mercy Corps while in high school. Through the PEG program, Mercy Corps is helping provide school materials for girls in Gidole and income-generating activities for their mothers. Mercy Corps provided school uniforms and supplies for Rahima and helped train her mother to start her own business. Rahima will graduate from Arba Minch University with a degree in electrical engineering—the first girl in her family to graduate school. “First, education is a tool that widens your horizons,” she says. “Second, it is through education that you can do something in the future. Without education, everything is meaningless. But through education you can create your own income. Education is very important, not only for me but for other girls.” https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-6116_1.jpg Gidole, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Students at Gidole High School. Through the PEG program, Mercy Corps is helping provide school materials for girls in Gidole and income-generating activities for their mothers. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-6207_1.jpg Gidole, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 March 2019, Gidole, Ethiopia. The hillside town of Gidole. Through the PEG program, Mercy Corps is helping provide school materials for girls in Gidole and income-generating activities for their mothers. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-6329_1.jpg Gidole, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Fatuma, 18, holds her 5 month-old nephew Robin. Fatuma's sister Rahima is studying electrical engineering in university thanks in part to support she received from Mercy Corps while in high school. Through the PEG program, Mercy Corps is helping provide school materials for girls in Gidole and income-generating activities for their mothers. Mercy Corps provided school uniforms and supplies for Rahima and helped train her mother to start her own business. Rahima will graduate from Arba Minch University with a degree in electrical engineering—the first girl in her family to graduate school. “First, education is a tool that widens your horizons,” she says. “Second, it is through education that you can do something in the future. Without education, everything is meaningless. But through education you can create your own income. Education is very important, not only for me but for other girls.” https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-7719_1.jpg Hartasheik, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Maryan, 28, is a single mother of three small children who owns her own sewing business in Hartesheik, Ethiopia. With little education or experience, she sought a way to provide for her children after divorcing her husband. A three-week skills training from Mercy Corps gave her the experience she needed to open her own business, which now provides for her family. Prolonged dry seasons due to climate change have affected Maryan’s business. She has no savings during the dry season due to fewer customers and must make up for it during the rainy times of the year. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-7984_1.jpg Hartasheik, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Khadra, 42, is chairwoman of a savings group supported by Mercy Corps in Hartasheik, Ethiopia. In the beginning, women in this group were saving about $1 per month. Now the group has grown to 80 people and has saved nearly $7,000, which they use to launch small businesses. Khadra did not receive an education when she was younger and leads this group without being able to read or write. Her children, who are all in school, thanks to her success, help her. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-8335_1.jpg Hartasheik, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Samatan, 10, holds a goat in front of his family's house. His mother Safiya, 45, is a community leader in Hartasheik, Ethiopia. Mercy Corps trained her and several others in her community to help change dangerous traditional behaviors about women’s health and natural resource management. Now the community is connected to health services and protecting the vital land that provides for them. “Women should take leadership roles, and I feel comfortable doing it,” she says. “It’s obvious that women are taking the lead in Ethiopia. The leadership is there and women are taking hold of it.” https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-8354_1.jpg Hartasheik, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Farhan, 12, holds a goat in front of his family's house. His mother Safiya, 45, is a community leader in Hartasheik, Ethiopia. Mercy Corps trained her and several others in her community to help change dangerous traditional behaviors about women’s health and natural resource management. Now the community is connected to health services and protecting the vital land that provides for them. “Women should take leadership roles, and I feel comfortable doing it,” she says. “It’s obvious that women are taking the lead in Ethiopia. The leadership is there and women are taking hold of it.” https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-8437_1.jpg Hartasheik, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Farhan, 12, holds a goat in front of his family's house. His mother Safiya, 45, is a community leader in Hartasheik, Ethiopia. Mercy Corps trained her and several others in her community to help change dangerous traditional behaviors about women’s health and natural resource management. Now the community is connected to health services and protecting the vital land that provides for them. “Women should take leadership roles, and I feel comfortable doing it,” she says. “It’s obvious that women are taking the lead in Ethiopia. The leadership is there and women are taking hold of it.” https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/ethiopia-201903-emillstein-9191_1.jpg Dembal, Ethiopia MARCH 2019 Ali, 50, is a livestock trader. Through the PRIME project, Mercy Corps opened a slaughterhouse in nearby Jijiga that buys animals from him. Since he no longer has to export them to Addis Ababa on the other side of the country, his livelihood has improved significantly. As climate change gets worse, Ali says, local pastoralists are bracing for longer droughts. “People in this area predict rain through their experience and using the stars,” he says. “They know how to forecast it very well. They see the stars and the signs in the wind and use different indicators to predict the coming rain season. This year they are very afraid.” https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-0222_1.jpg Chimanimani, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 Women wait in line for food at a distribution point called Skyline, on a ridge surrounded by mudslides. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-0571_1.jpg Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. MARCH 2019 Children wait in line for clothing at a distribution point called Skyline, on a ridge surrounded by mudslides. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-1239_1.jpg Chimanimani, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 People wait in line for food at a distribution point called Skyline, on a ridge surrounded by mudslides. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-1763_1.jpg Chimanimani, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 Utility workers walk across the remains of a bridge over the Nyahodi river, which burst its banks and washed away an entire market full of stalls, vendors and customers. It is estimated that 14 bridges around Chimanimani were destroyed, paralyzing transportation and making aid delivery slow and treacherous. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-2290_1.jpg Ngangu, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 Tamary Zunga, 52, searches for personal belongings amidst the wreckage of her home. Luckily nobody was home when a mudslide destroyed the house, and all of the crops surrounding it. Tamary says that nobody in the community can remember seeing a storm like this since 1942. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-2514_1.jpg Ngangu, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 A man digs in a pile of debris, hoping as he has for a week that he will be able to find one of his missing relatives. There are differing accounts of how many lives have been lost there, but it is clearly more than 40, and many people are unaccounted for. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-2547_1.jpg Ngangu, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 A box of muddy shoes that Anthony Machingauta, 52, recovered from his home. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-2608_1.jpg Ngangu, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 Anthony Machingauta, 52, is a schoolteacher. His son Leonard, 15, sits on his lap in the middle of their home. On March 16th, rains from Cyclone Idai unleashed mudslides from the hills surrounding Ngangu, which crushed the front wall of their house and exited out a side wall, leaving 4 feet of mud and unmovable boulders throughout their home. Anthony and his three sons all survived, but he is concerned about how he will be able to afford to feed them and pay their school fees. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-2878_1.jpg Ngangu, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 A damaged bridge on the road to Ngangu. This is the first cyclone in more than a decade to strike Zimbabwe. Strong winds and heavy rains particularly in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts have resulted in flash floods and destruction of infrastructure including houses, bridges, schools and utility lines. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-1796_1.jpg Chimanimani, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 Mercy Corps WASH Specialist Vimbayi Mazanhi (right) peers over the edge of a damaged bridge over the Nyahodi river, which burst its banks and washed away an entire market full of stalls, vendors and customers. It is estimated that 14 bridges around Chimanimani were destroyed, paralyzing transportation and making aid delivery slow and treacherous. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/zimbabwe-201903-emillstein-1873_1.jpg Chimanimani, Zimbabwe MARCH 2019 A boy walks across the remains of a road next to the Nyahodi river, which burst its banks and washed away an entire market full of stalls, vendors and customers. It is estimated that 14 bridges around Chimanimani were destroyed, paralyzing transportation and making aid delivery slow and treacherous. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/niger-201810-emillstein-3503.jpg Sargane, Niger OCTOBER 2018 Halima Issoufou, 26, shares a meal of millet porridge with her daughgter. Halima lives with her husband and three children in a rudimentary mud hut in a rural village outside Niger’s capital city, Niamey. Families here rely heavily on agriculture and nearly everyone lives hand-to-mouth. Halima’s family is no exception, and her daily life is not unlike every other woman’s in her village: from sunrise to sunset she works to care for the household, spending most of her time laboring over the day’s next meal. Every day she cleans the home and dishes, collects water and firewood, and pounds millet to make the family’s porridge, an arduous, lengthy process which she finishes just in time to start again. But all this work isn’t enough, and the family often goes without eating — poverty is rife and they are not able to grow enough food to last them the year. “In this area, people’s lives are based on agriculture, which does not answer their needs because of the rain,” Halima explains. “People constantly face drought, and that makes people suffer a lot.” Between 2014 and 2016, Mercy Corps’ ECOUT program responded, providing them with millet seeds; cash-for-work to restore farmland; goats; and training on agriculture, nutrition and hygiene. While conditions remain harsh and finding enough food is still a daily struggle, the family is still feeling some of the benefits from that program, particularly the hygiene and sanitation training, through which Halima learned to wash her dishes before cooking, and exclusively breastfeed her children for the first six months of life. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/niger-201810-emillstein-2704.jpg Sargane, Niger OCTOBER 2018 Halima Issoufou, 26, collects water for her family. Halima lives with her husband and three children in a rudimentary mud hut in a rural village outside Niger’s capital city, Niamey. Families here rely heavily on agriculture and nearly everyone lives hand-to-mouth. Halima’s family is no exception, and her daily life is not unlike every other woman’s in her village: from sunrise to sunset she works to care for the household, spending most of her time laboring over the day’s next meal. Every day she cleans the home and dishes, collects water and firewood, and pounds millet to make the family’s porridge, an arduous, lengthy process which she finishes just in time to start again. But all this work isn’t enough, and the family often goes without eating — poverty is rife and they are not able to grow enough food to last them the year. “In this area, people’s lives are based on agriculture, which does not answer their needs because of the rain,” Halima explains. “People constantly face drought, and that makes people suffer a lot.” Between 2014 and 2016, Mercy Corps’ ECOUT program responded, providing them with millet seeds; cash-for-work to restore farmland; goats; and training on agriculture, nutrition and hygiene. While conditions remain harsh and finding enough food is still a daily struggle, the family is still feeling some of the benefits from that program, particularly the hygiene and sanitation training, through which Halima learned to wash her dishes before cooking, and exclusively breastfeed her children for the first six months of life. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/niger-201810-emillstein-3443_1.jpg Sargane, Niger OCTOBER 2018 Halima Issoufou, 26, feeds millet flour gruel to her son Abidoulhaya, 3, outside their rudimentary mud hut in a rural village outside Niger’s capital city, Niamey. Families here rely heavily on agriculture and nearly everyone lives hand-to-mouth. Halima’s family is no exception, and her daily life is not unlike every other woman’s in her village: from sunrise to sunset she works to care for the household, spending most of her time laboring over the day’s next meal. Every day she cleans the home and dishes, collects water and firewood, and pounds millet to make the family’s porridge, an arduous, lengthy process which she finishes just in time to start again. But all this work isn’t enough, and the family often goes without eating — poverty is rife and they are not able to grow enough food to last them the year. “In this area, people’s lives are based on agriculture, which does not answer their needs because of the rain,” Halima explains. “People constantly face drought, and that makes people suffer a lot.” Between 2014 and 2016, Mercy Corps’ ECOUT program responded, providing them with millet seeds; cash-for-work to restore farmland; goats; and training on agriculture, nutrition and hygiene. While conditions remain harsh and finding enough food is still a daily struggle, the family is still feeling some of the benefits from that program, particularly the hygiene and sanitation training, through which Halima learned to wash her dishes before cooking, and exclusively breastfeed her children for the first six months of life. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/niger-201810-emillstein-3716.jpg Halima Issoufou, 26, pounds millet into flour outside her rudimentary mud hut in a rural village outside Niger’s capital city, Niamey. Families here rely heavily on agriculture and nearly everyone lives hand-to-mouth. Halima’s family is no exception, and her daily life is not unlike every other woman’s in her village: from sunrise to sunset she works to care for the household, spending most of her time laboring over the day’s next meal. Every day she cleans the home and dishes, collects water and firewood, and pounds millet to make the family’s porridge, an arduous, lengthy process which she finishes just in time to start again. But all this work isn’t enough, and the family often goes without eating — poverty is rife and they are not able to grow enough food to last them the year. “In this area, people’s lives are based on agriculture, which does not answer their needs because of the rain,” Halima explains. “People constantly face drought, and that makes people suffer a lot.” Between 2014 and 2016, Mercy Corps’ ECOUT program responded, providing them with millet seeds; cash-for-work to restore farmland; goats; and training on agriculture, nutrition and hygiene. While conditions remain harsh and finding enough food is still a daily struggle, the family is still feeling some of the benefits from that program, particularly the hygiene and sanitation training, through which Halima learned to wash her dishes before cooking, and exclusively breastfeed her children for the first six months of life. Halima Issoufou, 26, pounds millet into flour outside her rudimentary mud hut in a rural village outside Niger’s capital city, Niamey. Families here rely heavily on agriculture and nearly everyone lives hand-to-mouth. Halima’s family is no exception, and her daily life is not unlike every other woman’s in her village: from sunrise to sunset she works to care for the household, spending most of her time laboring over the day’s next meal. Every day she cleans the home and dishes, collects water and firewood, and pounds millet to make the family’s porridge, an arduous, lengthy process which she finishes just in time to start again. But all this work isn’t enough, and the family often goes without eating — poverty is rife and they are not able to grow enough food to last them the year. “In this area, people’s lives are based on agriculture, which does not answer their needs because of the rain,” Halima explains. “People constantly face drought, and that makes people suffer a lot.” Between 2014 and 2016, Mercy Corps’ ECOUT program responded, providing them with millet seeds; cash-for-work to restore farmland; goats; and training on agriculture, nutrition and hygiene. While conditions remain harsh and finding enough food is still a daily struggle, the family is still feeling some of the benefits from that program, particularly the hygiene and sanitation training, through which Halima learned to wash her dishes before cooking, and exclusively breastfeed her children for the first six months of life. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/niger-201810-emillstein-4092.jpg Mercy Corps - Africa | ezramillstein.com View Mercy Corps - Africa by ezramillstein.com. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/niger-201810-emillstein-7209.jpg Sargane, Niger. OCTOBER 2018 Hadiara, 35, feeds her goats. She and her family live in a small, rural village 90 minutes outside Niamey where families rely heavily on agriculture and nearly everyone lives hand-to-mouth. Food shortages are chronic here, even more so in recent years as the rains have become increasingly less reliable. Like the other women in her community, Hadiara’s days are made of manual labor: cleaning, collecting water and firewood, farming and pounding millet, with the completion of one meal time bleeding into the preparation for the next. “A woman’s life conditions are a question of a lot of struggling to have food and improve our life,” she says. “We work very hard with poor results, and our life is very difficult.” Between 2014 and 2016, Mercy Corps’ ECOUT program was implemented here, providing Hadiara’s family with seeds; cash-for-work to restore farmland; goats; and training on agriculture, nutrition and hygiene. While conditions remain harsh and hunger is still a daily struggle, the family is still seeing some of the benefits from that program: the goat allowed Hadiara to feed her newborn baby when she couldn’t produce breastmilk, and today the animals are healthy — and pregnant, which will provide her with an emergency source of income. “I am taking care of them myself,” Hadiara says of her goats. “They are very precious to me.” https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/niger-201810-emillstein-6642.jpg Baleyara, Niger OCTOBER 2018 Abdoulfataou Ganda, 18, stands next to a well on his farm. “Most of our friends migrate to seek a better life,” Abdoulfataou explains. He has taken over his father’s farm, which earns him enough to be self-reliant and support his family. Like many youth in his community, he is at risk of migrating in search of opportunity, which means their communities are losing talent and skill to other places. But Abdoulfataou participated in Mercy Corps’ financial literacy training, where he learned about budgeting, saving and how to seek microfinance support for business, which helped solidify is believe that a good life is possible at home. “To me, it’s always better to be at your home, that’s where you can naturally be fine,” he says. “Home is home. And I believe that you can make a business and a good living even here, as long as you have something to do.” Driven by poverty, a lack of opportunity, and cultural expectation, many people in Niger migrate to different areas or countries for months or years at a time to earn income and experience life outside their home community. Migration routes have become increasingly dangerous and costly, putting migrants who don’t know their rights at risk of violence or exploitation. However, migration also has the benefit of enabling people to gain skills they would otherwise not, which they can utilize in their home communities if they return and have access to opportunities. Mercy Corps’ AMIPA program works with returning migrants and those at risk of migrating to provide education about the risks, so people can make informed decisions, while also providing financial inclusion and business support for those who have returned or choose to stay, so that they may access livelihoods in their home communities. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/uganda-201711-emillstein-0270.jpg Bidi Bidi, Uganda NOVEMBER 2017 Justice Tumuzbe, 10, fled with his grandparents Paul and Suzanne, from their home in Morobo County, South Sudan. Paul and Suzanne's children stayed back in South Sudan or were killed in the conflict. “When we got here, there was only forest, you can’t imagine to survive, especially these young kids," Paul says. They have benefited from Mercy Corps emergency cash support, receiving six months of payments (38,000 Ugandan shillings each m so that they could supplement their food and start their own small business, a stall in the refugee settlement. Paul is the Education Secretary of the Refugee Community Council. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/uganda-201712-emillstein-4009_1.jpg Bidi Bidi, Uganda DECEMBER 2017 Apate Amina, 37, waits in line at a Mercy Corps cash distribution. She comes from Kimba, in the Central Equatoria region of South Sudan, and arrived in Bidi Bidi in October 2016. Apate takes care of 12 children, 7 of her own and 7 that belonged to her sister who was killed by stray bullets during the recent conflict. She received a payment of 84,0000 Ugandan shillings from Mercy Corps in December, and will receive another payment in March 2018. All of the refugees who received the cash distribution are members of Mercy Corps-supported farmers groups. The objective of the cash distributions are to help them delay the sales of their harvests, so they can sell their produce at higher prices. If they can delay long enough, they don't have to eat or sell their seeds before the next planting season. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/uganda-201711-emillstein-0695_1.jpg Bidi Bidi, Uganda NOVERMBER 2017 287,400 South Sudanese refugees are living in Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, which is considered the largest refugee camp in the world. It is situated in the West Nile sub-region of Uganda. More than 2.2 million people have been forced to flee South Sudan and take refuge in neighboring countries including Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda. Uganda is now hosting more than 1 million refugees. At the height of the crisis, 1,800 to 2,000 people were arriving at Uganda's borders each day. 80% of South Sudanese refugees in Uganda are women and children. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/uganda-201712-emillstein-3795_1.jpg Moyo, Uganda DECEMBER 2017 Bayoa Dominica, 24, and her 7 month-old son Good Lucky Haron stand in a field of white sorghum. Bayou is a member of a Mercy Corps supported farmers group, composed of both host community Ugandans and South Sudanese refugee men and women, who work together for better crop production. South Sudanese refugees are given small plots of land, and Ugandan nationals have larger plots but very few people to work the land. Together they combine their resources and labor. Mercy Corps provided each farmer with a voucher for 20,000 Ugandan shillings, and many of the farmers groups pooled their vouchers together to buy greater quantities of seeds and more products. Mercy Corps also organized a trade fair between the farmers and the agro dealers so that they could spend their vouchers and purchase what they needed. Caroline Mandera is a Ugandan widow with 7 children, and has been part of the group for 3 months. She says "I joined the group because in the group we have savings. I use the money from the group to pay school fees. I also join hands with the farmers to produce some of our products. We pick and then we sell them." Mercy Corps will also be supporting these farmers groups to establish VSLAs (Village Savings and Loans Associations) so that members will be able to begin to save some of the money they earn through the sale of crops. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/uganda-201711-emillstein-1535.jpg Bidi Bidi, Uganda DECEMBER 2017 Christian Modo (3, blue overalls) went with his mother, Doreen Ajio, to a meeting of the Mercy Corps-supported farmers group, in Bidi Bidi Zone 4 village 5. With Mercy Corps' assistance, the farmers have formed a VSLA (Village Savings and Loans Association) so that members will be able to begin to save some of the money they earn through the sale of crops.South Sudanese refugees are given small plots of land, and Ugandan nationals have larger plots but very few people to work the land. Together they combine their resources and labor. Mercy Corps provided each farmer with a voucher for 20,000 Ugandan shillings, and many of the farmers groups pooled their vouchers together to buy greater quantities of seeds and more products. Mercy Corps also organized a trade fair between the farmers and the agro dealers so that they could spend their vouchers and purchase what they needed. https://cdn.neonsky.app/4bd5ebf25d986/images/uganda-201712-emillstein-0633.jpg Bidi Bidi, Uganda DECEMBER 2017 Christian Modo (3, blue overalls) went with his mother, Doreen Ajio, to a meeting of the Mercy Corps-supported farmers group, in Bidi Bidi Zone 4 village 5. With Mercy Corps' assistance, the farmers have formed a VSLA (Village Savings and Loans Association) so that members will be able to begin to save some of the money they earn through the sale of crops.South Sudanese refugees are given small plots of land, and Ugandan nationals have larger plots but very few people to work the land. Together they combine their resources and labor. Mercy Corps provided each farmer with a voucher for 20,000 Ugandan shillings, and many of the farmers groups pooled their vouchers together to buy greater quantities of seeds and more products. Mercy Corps also organized a trade fair between the farmers and the agro dealers so that they could spend their vouchers and purchase what they needed. https://ezramillstein.com/mercy-corps---asia monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/mercy-corps---latin-america monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/habitat-for-humanity-international monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/habitat-for-humanity---usa monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/nepal-earthquake monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/haiti-earthquake monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/landscapes monthly 0.8 https://ezramillstein.com/publications monthly 0.8