Transforming Lives

Every day, all over the world, USAID brings peace to those who endure violence, health to those who struggle with sickness, and prosperity to those who live in poverty. It is these individuals — these uncounted thousands of lives — that are the true measure of USAID’s successes and the true face of USAID's programs.

January 2017—The crowd had swelled to about 30 people. All of them were young girls and mothers. Some already carried a baby in their arms. They were intently listening to the community health educator explain the different methods of family planning available at the health center.

All of these women were there because they were interested in taking charge of their futures. And they had this opportunity, at a brand new health center, thanks to an exceptional young Malagasy woman.

When Michael Saunders was 8 years old, he dreamed of becoming a gangster. But, growing up on the streets of St. Kitts, he learned the hard way that crime does not pay.

When 22-year-old Chevaly Tartullian talks about her kids, her face lights up like a child’s in a candy store. She lives for them.

Standing in front of nearly 100 students, Dr. Nguyen Thi Binh of the faculty of the Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy faces a significant challenge—she must convey complex material about obstetrics to third-year general medical students, but the barriers to active learning are significant. She worries that her students will come away from her class with adequate knowledge but limited ability to apply that knowledge in real-life medical situations.

Merifa Muvwera’s caretaking responsibilities include her 3-year-old daughter, who was born with Down syndrome, and her 70-year-old mother-in-law, who is paralyzed from the waist down. Muvwera spends her days supervising, bathing, washing clothes, cleaning, cooking and cultivating food for her family.

Kindo Aïssata, 42, has lived in Belleville, a small district in Côte d’Ivoire’s town of Anyama, for 15 years. Just like the rest of the district’s population of 13,000, she has faced water shortages the entire time she has lived there.

In Zamboanga City and other conflict-affected areas of Mindanao, the southern region of the Philippines, nearly a quarter of the youth are out of school—more than twice the national average

Maria* was only 13 when she was trafficked. She now participates in group therapy in Zambales province, north of Manila, to help process her difficult experiences.

Somalia is one of the lowest performing countries in the world in terms of economic growth, gender equality and human development. The government is still rebuilding after its collapse 25 years ago and struggles to provide even basic health and education services. Only five years ago, parts of Somalia were devastated by a famine.

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