Day: December 18, 2014

ADRA’s Cultural Center Makes a Difference Through Art

Thirteen-year-old Samvel is an artist. He paints what he sees, and the picture becomes the scene. He paints what he imagines, and the colors and shapes blossom from the paper like lilies from a field. He has a keen eye and a sensitive spirit, and everyone agrees: Samvel is an artist. But Samvel is also […]

Rwanda: ADRA’s Partnership with TOMS Provides Shoes for Children in Need

Placidia holds a new pair of shoes in her hands. Her shy smile has grown, and today the 6-year-old is practically beaming as she clutches the simple, black canvas slip-ons. These are the first shoes she has ever called her own. Placidia is the youngest of seven daughters. Her mother is a widow in one […]

Serbia: ADRA Provides Safety Through Housing

Snezana’s marriage began as something out of a fairy tale. She was young and beautiful; he was older, hardworking, and devoted. Her family disapproved of the union, but the two were in love. She gave birth to two children and stayed home to raise them. He worked even harder to provide for his family. Conflict […]

Philippines: ADRA’s Boat Repair Project Helps Fishermen Return to Work

Danilo is a fisherman from Panay Island in the Philippines. Growing up impoverished, he had no chance to get an education and began fishing for a living at 12 years old. Fishing is the only livelihood he’s known, so he was devastated when Typhoon Haiyan destroyed his boat as it swept through the Philippines in […]

Syria: ADRA’s Winterization Assistance Program Helps Individuals Keep Warm During Winter

Rita is an elderly woman who never imagined having to leave her home behind at this stage in life. But when violence and unrest in Syria threatened the safety of her and her family, there was no choice. Rita fled her home with her remaining family members and was unable to take anything with her. […]

Uganda: ADRA’s Mission to provide Essentials for Survival

At the age of 10, James went to school for the first time. He was ecstatic. He had no idea that in less than three months he would be fleeing for his life from his home in South Sudan, across the border to Uganda. In January of 2014, tribal war erupted in his volatile home […]

Gambia: ADRA’s Microfinance is Training Families to Live Sustainable Lives

Ekua was barely able to provide for her loved ones. Living in Gambia with her husband, who was out of work, she became the sole provider. She was selling dried fish at the market and earning paltry profits, so the little food she could afford was not nearly enough to nourish her family. Without enough […]

Rwanda: How Rural Alto Survived Without the Rain

Maria, age 73, is the matriarch of a full house. Within her home are two sons, three daughters, and two grandchildren. Like many subsistence farmers in the rural Alto community, Maria planted corn on her modest parcel of land to feed her household. That year, the rains came too late. Maria and her family tilled […]

Nepal: ADRA’s Rainbow Children’s Home

Raniza lives in a village of Tharu, a population of forest dwellers indigenous to the Himalayan foothills of southern Nepal. A few years ago, she was unable to read or write, and her only source of income was cutting and selling firewood Like so many women of her village, Raniza lived a life of constant […]

India: How ADRA’s Educational Support Guided Kids for a Better Future

Santhash, a 13-year-old living in Chennai, India, used to skip school every day to pick fights and roam the streets of his native Anna Nagar slum with his friends. His mother, Vellin, was resigned to a life of poverty for herself and her son. ADRA’s childhood development project in India provides academic support, creative learning […]