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Photo Essays

A child shines shoes in Afghanistan's Northwest city of Herat
A young boy in one of the IRC's education programs
This family in Herat received a kitchen kit from the IRC
The IRC oversees the drilling of a water well.
A powerhouse housing micro hydropower equipment.
An Afghan man uses a zip line to transport goods across a river.

Inside our work in Afghanistan

Afghani Refugees, Asia
02.12.2012

Having endured decades of conflict and frequent natural disasters, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries on earth. The IRC focuses on emergency preparedness and response as well as longer term development. Currently working in seven of the country’s 34 provinces, the IRC’s staff is 98% Afghan.
 

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This woman is arranging pagne, a waxed cotton fabric women use for dresses.
A staff member checks the IDs of people arriving at the fair.
A woman exults when she receives a $75 voucher.
A woman carrying her baby on her back looks at a bolt of fabric.
A man selects three corrugated metal panels to build a home.
A boy gives a vendor a coupon in exchange for a flashlight and batteries.
A woman carries a travel bag, a washing basin and a rolled corrugated sheet.
Two people carry mattresses they purchased at the fair over their heads.
An IRC staff member checks merchandise of visitors who have cashed in coupons.
A fair-goer carries bundles of goods home on a motorbike.
Vendors exchange the vouchers they have collected for credit with the IRC.
A woman with the washing basins she bought at the fair.

Starting over in Congo

Emergency Response, Africa, D.R. Congo
01.18.2012

Last year, the IRC organized three fairs in Congo’s South Kivu Province, which continues to be marred by insecurity and large population displacements. More than 5,000 families—some who were forced from home by violence, others who have been sharing their homes with the uprooted—exchanged IRC vouchers for basic items they need to rebuild their lives.  The fairs, sponsored by UNICEF, also gave local merchants business, providing an important economic boost to the region.

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<p>Two years on, many earthquake survivors who lost their homes are still living in tent camps and other makeshift selttlements in around the ravaged capital city, Port-au-Prince. Jencarlos visited a camp called St. Etienne and saw a &quot;child-friendly space&quot; run by the IRC where children were singing, dancing, reading and drawing. The IRC sets up these spaces within camps so that thousands of children have safe places to play, learn, and socialize.</p>
<p>Jencarlos was the special guest at the opening of a new meeting place for a Girls&#39; Group in the Teleco camp. There he met 30 girls ranging in age from 9&ndash;17 who were singing, dancing and laughing. The IRC created these groups for young survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence, giving them a place to heal and to build positive self-esteem. The members use role playing and theater to help them deal with physical, emotional and mental abuse. Jencarlos was invited to judge a singing competiton and declared all of the contestants winners.</p>
<p>Jencarlos stops to speak with two residents of St. Etienne after seeing how one water pump can radically improve the lives of people in their &nbsp;community.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Jencarlos visiting the Mega 4 camp, where he watched some very talented young soccer players scrimmage.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Jencarlos and children from St. Etienne posed for a group photo. &ldquo;I identify a lot with the mission of the IRC in helping children and their families who flee from dangerous situations&rdquo; says Jencarlos. &nbsp;&ldquo;I cannot imagine a work more gratifying than using my time and voice to support their humanitarian work. &nbsp;Helping people in need has always been my dream.&rdquo;</p>

Jencarlos in Haiti

Haiti
12.15.2011

Singer, actor and IRC Voice Jencarlos Canela recently visited IRC programs in Haiti that are helping those who lost homes and loved ones in the massive earthquake of January 2010. Jencarlos had the opportunity to meet hundreds of children and their families who are still displaced nearly two years after the disaster. 

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WASH, IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan
IRC, Education, Students, floods, Pakistan

A class in post-flood recovery

Education, Asia, Pakistan
12.05.2011

As many as five thousand schools were damaged or destroyed in Pakistan's record flooding of 2010.  During this past summer, the IRC rehabilitated nine schools in northern Pakistan. We also retrained teachers, and revived Parent Teacher Associations. 

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An IRC health volunteer translates for a Burmese family at a meeting in Bangkok
A boy makes his way home on a makeshift raft.
An IRC advocacy coordinator distributes water purification tablets in Bangkok
Kaew Nimit and her family wade through flood waters in Bangkok

In the flood's wake

Thailand
11.28.2011

While Thailand’s worst flooding in half a century recedes from most of the capital, nearly a half million Burmese residents of Bangkok are still being seriously affected by the devastation left in the flood’s wake. The IRC is aiding both Burmese and Thai residents in two of the city's hardest-hit neighborhoods. 

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<p>The number of Somalis fleeing to Kenya has slowed to a trickle since Kenya sent troops into Somalia in pursuit of Al Shabab militants. As a result, thousands of people are trapped inside Somalia with few safe places to go. After fleeing their home in the south, this family found refuge in a makeshift camp in Galkayo in central Somalia.</p>
<p>This woman took shelter in Galkayo after fleeing clan fighting in the Mudug region. Somalia has been beset by such fighting since 1991 when the former central government was toppled by rival clan militias.</p>
<p>The Sa&rsquo;ad clan militia - some of their fighters are pictured here - regularly fight rival clans over access to water and other resources. This fall an outbreak of violence in Galkayo killed at least 30 people and displaced hundreds.</p>
<p>Somalia is awash with weapons and violence. In addition to an insurgency led by Al Shabab, one of Africa&rsquo;s most fearsome militant Islamist groups, the country is beset by widespread piracy and kidnapping.</p>
<p>Galkayo is an important livestock and business center. The town has seen its population grow as rudimentary camps have sprung up to house those fleeing famine and fighting. This woman fled clan fighting in Mudug.</p>
<p>Hamdi Hussein Hassan, 32, lost her husband and two children when a mortar shell hit her house in Mogadishu. The country&rsquo;s capital sees frequent clashes between Al Shabab and African Union peacekeeping forces. She fled to Galkayo with her surviving daughter, left paralyzed by the blast, and now lives in a small shelter made from sticks and cardboard.</p>
<p>The drought in Somalia and East Africa has been exacerbated by fighting and by aid workers&#39; lack of access to much of southern Somalia. Here, children fetch water at a tap installed by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the village of Darssalam in central Somalia.</p>
<p>Women fetch water at an IRC-drilled well. The IRC is building and repairing wells, hand pumps and pipelines in Somalia&rsquo;s Mudug region, as well as training community volunteers in hygiene.</p>
<p>The drought has devastated livestock, a catastrophe for people who are mainly pastoralists and derive their income from animals. To prevent further losses, the IRC has built water troughs for animals and vaccinated and de-wormed some 35,000 livestock.</p>
<p>IRC workers de-worm goats in Do&rsquo;ol village.</p>
<p>Abdi Hussein Farah, 40, lost more than 100 goats in the drought. After trekking through the desert with his few remaining animals he built a shelter near the village of Do&rsquo;ol. &ldquo;I have only a few goats left now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Here, they have a better chance of survival.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Salado Ali Salat, 35, is one of hundreds of displaced Somalis who have received goats from the IRC.</p>
<p>With no end in sight to Somalia&rsquo;s civil conflict, the effects of the drought are expected to last into 2012 and beyond. &ldquo;The situation in Somalia is probably the largest catastrophe in the world at the moment,&rdquo; says Prafulla Mishra, the IRC&rsquo;s Somalia director.</p>

Famine in Somalia

Horn of Africa Drought, Somalia
11.17.2011

The IRC is providing livestock, water and food to tens of thousands of people in Somalia who have fled the country’s most devastating drought and famine in 60 years.

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Torbertha Torbor addresses the audience at the IRC's 2011 Freedom Award Dinner
A view of the room at the IRCs annual Freedom Award Dinner
<p>David Letterman tosses off a few one-liners while paying tribute to his friend Tom Brokaw and the rest of the Brokaw family, who were honored with the Freedom Award at the dinner.</p>

Freedom Award Dinner 2011

Events, United States, US - New York, HQ
11.16.2011

On November 9, 2011 the International Rescue Committee presented the IRC Freedom Award to Tom Brokaw and his family for their humanitarian efforts. The award dinner, held at New York's Waldof-Astoria, featured special guests John Legend, David Letterman and General Colin Powell. David Gregory of "Meet the Press" served as Master of Ceremonies. 

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Severly malnoutished baby Minhaj Gedi Farah
<p>Minhaj, two months after leaving the hospital. He&#39;s the picture of health at more than 17 pounds (8 kilos) -- nearly normal for a boy his age.</p>
<p>When Minhaj first arrived at the hospital, he was not only malnourished but also severely&nbsp; anemic.&nbsp; It took three life-saving blood transfusions and weeks of intensive feeding with Plumpy&rsquo;nut, a vitamin-enriched peanut paste, before his condition stabilized and he could be released.&nbsp; Afterward, Minhaj was treated for tuberculosis in an IRC outpatient program.</p>
Minhaj with his mother, Assiyah Dagane Osman, in the IRC hospital
Minhaj with his mother, Assiyah Dagane Osman
Dr. John Kiogora holds baby Minhaj outside the IRC's Dadaab hospital
Minhaj with IRC nutrition nurse Sirat Amin.

Baby Minhaj: Face of hope amid famine

Kenya
11.11.2011

In refugee camps in Dadaab, northeastern Kenya, the IRC aids Somalis who have fled a devastating drought and gives fortified food to malnourished young children. One of these children —  skeletal seven-month-old Minhaj Gedi Farah — became the face of the famine for millions who followed his progress in the news. Today, three months after leaving the IRC's hospital, the chubby-cheeked little boy has become a face of hope amid the crisis.

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A young refugee woman stands in front of an American flag
The IRC supports Burmese refugees on Thai border with services, resettlement
The IRC and UNHCR support other refugees who move to cities like Kuala Lumpur
IRC, UNHCR help refugees register and apply to resettle; most won't be able to
Resettlement Support Centers help refugees prepare paperwork and for their move
The IRC gives practical advice to refugees heading to the United States
The IRC tells refugees what to pack, how they will arrive in the United States
A Burmese family waited for two years to resettle, they will move to Indiana
The IRC helps the family receive medical care before they leave for the U.S.
The refugees wait at UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur for a bus to the airport
The Burmese refugee family sleeps during the long trip to the United States
They board a plane to the United States; the IRC will greet the refugees

Bound for America

Resettlement, Thailand
10.26.2011

Every year, the United States resettles tens of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable refugees. The preparations for resettlement are made by a Resettlement Support Center in the refugee’s country of asylum. In Bangkok, Thailand, the International Rescue Committee runs the Resettlement Support Center for East Asia, assisting refugees living in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Vietnam and other countries in the region. 

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A man walks flooded streets in Bangkok, Thailand; IRC protects Burmese refugees
Women use makeshift boat in flooded Bangkok, Thailand; IRC provides clean water
A man on flooded street in Bangkok, Thailand; IRC works with Thai government
Burmese refugees take shelter in a flooded building in Thailand
IRC staff directs Burmese refugees to food, clean water in flooded Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand flooded, the IRC protects vulnerable refugees, migrant workers

Thailand floods

Thailand
10.25.2011

As flood waters rise in Thailand, Burmese refugees and migrant workers are especially vulnerable. The IRC is working with the Thai government to ensure this marginalized community has access to shelter, clean water, food and other basic services.

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