GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
1) International relief and development nonprofit non-governmental organization founded in 1986
2) Philosophy: “ Helping People Help Themselves”
People participating in the process of improving their situation, thereby restoring dignity and honor to their lives
Promoting self-sufficiency
3) Main Areas of Focus:
Economic Growth and Income Generation
Health Improvement
Food and Shelter Assistance
Vocational Training and Education
4) No discrimination in aid given, impartial and non-political
5) Receives grant funding from the United States Government and various United Nations agencies
6) Registered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
7) Special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
8) Member of American Council for Voluntary International Action (InterAction)
9) Member of Do Unto Others (DUO) and Independent Charities of America (ICA)
10) Participant in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) and State Employee Campaigns in California, Illinois and Michigan
11) Cooperation with and recognition by major international organizations:
US Government Agencies
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
United Nations Agencies and Programs
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
World Food Program (WFP)
World Health Organization (WHO)
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA)
NATO
SFOR and IFOR (U.S. Battalions in Tuzla Sector)
KFOR
Non-Governmental Organizations
Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Counterpart International
Land O’ Lakes
United Methodist Committee for Relief (UMCOR)
12) Offices:
Headquarters........... Plymouth, Michigan
Overseas Branches: Albania (Tirana)
Bosnia & Herzegovina (Tuzla)
Indonesia (Jakarta)
Kenya (Nairobi)
Kosovo (Pristina)
Somalia (Mogadishu)
Canadian Partner: Mercy USA for Aid and Development (Canada), Inc.
13) Programs and Projects:
Indonesia
Mercy-USA for Aid and Development (M-USA) is assisting survivors of the devastating December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Mercy-USA is focusing its tsunami response efforts in the province of Aceh. In January and February 2005, M-USA distributed food packages (containing rice, noodles, canned sardines, biscuits, bottled water, etc.) to 1,200 homeless families near Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. In March, M-USA distributed six-month household kits (containing kitchen items, towels, toiletries, clothing, plastic mats, candles, matches, etc.) to 400 homeless families near Banda Aceh and Meulaboh.
In February and March 2005, M-USA also dug water wells and built latrines in ten IDP camps/temporary shelters in the district of Aceh Besar. This water and sanitation project is benefiting approximately 4,000 persons.
While field assessments and reviews are not yet complete, Mercy-USA is tentatively planning to focus on shelter, water and sanitation, and livelihood support (including aquaculture, fishing and agriculture) during the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase of its tsunami response efforts.
Albania
Education
On September 30, 2003, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development (M-USA) signed a new $3.2 million grant agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide daily lunch to about 32,000 vulnerable school children in Albania. This program, which will begin in September 2004 and end in June 2005, is a follow-on to a similar school lunch project carried out in the 2002/2003 academic year.
The objectives of this project, like the previous one, are to improve the children’s nutrition and encourage attendance, reduce drop out rates, especially among girls, and improve academic performance. In addition, M-USA will improve the hygiene and health knowledge and awareness of these students and their teachers through seminars conducted by our health monitors.
From September 2002 to June 2003, through a USDA Global Food for Education (GFEI) grant worth over $3 million, Mercy-USA carried out a daily school lunch program for over 30,600 children attending 67 primary schools in ten districts in the economically depressed northern and central regions of Albania.
The objectives of this project were to encourage attendance, reduce drop out rates, especially among girls, and improve academic performance. All student achievement indicators increased at the end of the 2002/2003 school year when compared to the previous school year.
Total student enrollment was up 5.2% from 29,114 in 2001/2002 to 30,635 in 2002/2003. Enrollment among girls increased 6.4% from 14,215 to 15,124. Moreover, the total percentage of students who successfully passed increased 3% over the previous school year. Total student average grades also increased 6% from 7.3 to 7.7 out of 10, and, specifically, 7% among girls from 7.5 in 2001/2002 to 8.0 out of 10 in 2002/2003.
Under GFEI, USDA donated surplus US agricultural commodities for use in school feeding and pre-school nutrition projects in developing countries. The World Food Programme (WFP) and 14 Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs), including Mercy-USA, were selected as grantees under this pilot program.
M-USA supports an English language-training course offered in the northern city of Shkoder.
Food and Shelter
From February 2002 to January 2003, through a USDA sub-grant from Counterpart International (CPI) worth approximately $3.4 million, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development provided over 13 million pounds of wheat flour and beans to more than 120,000 vulnerable persons (30,225 families) in Albania. This food distribution project helped to feed orphans, the elderly, single-parent families, and persons with disabilities living in almost 100 towns and villages in 14 districts throughout the country.
During 2000, M-USA distributed almost 12.9 million pounds of wheat flour to approximately 200,000 vulnerable persons living in 364 towns and villages throughout Albania. The 2000 food aid program was also funded through a USDA sub-grant from CPI.
During 2001 and 2002, Mercy-USA distributed about 4.8 million pounds of WFP food items – wheat flour, beans, vegetable oil, canned meat and sugar - to over 31,000 vulnerable persons in remote, poverty-stricken regions of northern Albania. Many of our clients included orphans and persons with disabilities. Since 1997, M-USA has carried out a number of WFP-supported food aid projects throughout Albania.
During the last twelve years, Mercy-USA has provided about 250,000 pounds of meat to the needy.
Mercy-USA periodically provides food, clothing and other essential items to persons in need.
Economic Growth and Income Generation
From May to November 2003, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development, in partnership with the Orphans’ Association in Kruja, Albania, carried out a six-month tailoring and sewing course for 15 orphans in that town. The objective of this program was to help these orphaned girls to develop skills that allow them to support themselves and not be dependent on charity and meager government assistance.
During March and April 2003, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development distributed approximately 1.56 million pounds of animal feed to 3,737 family farmers in Lezha, a northern district of Albania. Each family received about 420 lb. of feed.
This distribution, which occurred in 13 villages throughout the district, came at a very critical time, with the region experiencing dry weather and a resulting shortage of grazing grass. Dairy farmers reported a 12 to 15% increase in milk production (about two liters per cow) as a result of this feed distribution. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) donated the feed and helped fund the administrative costs of this program.
From May to August 2003, through a food-for-work program funded by WFP, Mercy-USA supervised improvements to a one-kilometer gravel road that links the small village of Sharra to the main highway. This project has improved access to this isolated village, whose primary school with 211 children participated in M-USA’s USDA-funded school lunch program.
Mercy-USA supervised the repairs, while the local government provided some material and transportation and the residents provided the labor and were compensated with WFP-donated food items. In 2002, M-USA completed a similar food-for-work program in the village of Milot.
In April and June 2003, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development continued its small enterprise development program in Albania by providing interest-free loans to two dairy product factories. These facilities, located in the districts of Durres and Lushnja, employ 12 and 30 people respectively, and will repay the loans over a two-year period.
Since 1996, M-USA has been supporting family-based agricultural businesses through providing small interest-free loans, while our partner Land O’Lakes provides many recipients with technical assistance. Small farmers have received loans to purchase sheep, dairy cows, beehives, water pumps and materials to build greenhouses. Also, as described above, small dairy product manufacturers have received loans to purchase new equipment to upgrade and expand their production capacity.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Economic Growth and Income Generation
In February 2003, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development signed its third United States Government agricultural development grant agreement for Bosnia. With this new approximately $2.7 million US Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant, M-USA is continuing a project started in 1999 to revive the small farming businesses of returnee and displaced families in the Brcko District of Bosnia.
Under this new grant, M-USA is providing more than 6,000 families with agricultural inputs and training or other small business support. Also, approximately 40,000 Brcko District residents will indirectly benefit from the environmental preservation and reforestation component of this project.
From August 2003 to June 2004, M-USA distributed poultry (egg-layer and broiler) packages, fruit tree packages with hand tools, chainsaws, bees and beehives, hay trimmers, livestock feed mills or greenhouses to over 1,260 families. During this period, Mercy-USA also provided over 750 of these families with training specific to their choice of input through group seminars on poultry and orchard care, greenhouse production and beekeeping. Additionally, M-USA has contracted with local agronomists to ensure that on-site consultation and technical support is available to any client family that needs it.
From March to June 2004, our subcontractor for the forestry and agri-training components, Counterpart International (CPI), distributed a variety of 12 fruit and rose seedlings to over 1,400 families; CPI also distributed ten species of trees to a local nursery and a high school. Additionally, CPI carried out six agricultural training and technical support seminars, attended by about 170 farmers and producers, on a variety of topics including: orchard planting; sunflower and rape seed oil production; medicinal herb production; protection of fruit trees from illnesses and pests; and the economics of fruit growing and oil seed and medicinal herb production.
Under two previous USDA grants, M-USA provided over 6,460 displaced and returnee families in Brcko District with various agricultural inputs to assist them in reviving their small farming businesses. Mercy-USA has also trained executives and managers in the wheat milling industry and other agri-businesses. Further, through our partner CPI, M-USA supported urban greening, reforestation and other environment-enhancing programs.
Since December 1998, Mercy-USA has been providing training to individuals in the leading basic office software. This project is increasing the office/clerical and computer skills of trainees and thus their employability. As of June 2004, over 1,000 persons have graduated from this program.
In February 2004, Mercy-USA initiated a series of two-month long intensive English language courses in Srebrenik Municipality in northeastern Bosnia. As of June 2004, about 60 adults had successfully completed these courses.
From 1994 through 1999, Mercy-USA distributed about 5 million pounds of vegetable seeds and 1.8 million pounds of fertilizer that produced over 99 million pounds of various vegetables. Mercy-USA also distributed 11,700 seedling plum trees, over 60,000 gardening tools and chain saws to vulnerable families throughout the country. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) helped to fund these projects.
Mercy-USA has helped small family agri-businesses by providing them with beehives, livestock and other necessary inputs (animal feed, medicines, etc.). In return, these farmers provided Mercy-USA with a portion of their production (honey, eggs, and livestock offspring) that was redistributed to other families.
During 1998, Mercy-USA provided demobilized veterans with job search, resume-preparation and interview skills.
Food and Shelter
During the last twelve years, Mercy-USA has provided over 315,500 pounds of meat to displaced persons and other vulnerable people. Also, from 1997 to 1999, Mercy-USA distributed over 130,000 6.25-ounce cans of tuna fish and 11,220 pounds of powdered milk to vulnerable families. The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) donated the tuna fish and powdered milk.
Mercy-USA periodically provides food, clothing and other essential items to persons in need.
From 1996 to 2001, Mercy-USA provided over 427,000 cubic feet of firewood and 9.34 million pounds of heating coal to 27,500 vulnerable persons. Mercy-USA also provided thousands of beds, sleeping bags and blankets to schools, refugee centers, hospitals and returnee families. USAID funded many of these distributions.
Somalia and Kenya
Health Improvement
From May 2003 to May 2005, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development has been assisting the over 7,000 inhabitants of 8 villages near Jowhar in the Central Shabelle region of Somalia to develop a safe and sustainable water supply system. The objective of this activity is decreased risk of morbidity and mortality from water-borne diseases among children, women and the elderly.
Under this project, M-USA, in partnership with the local community, dug one well, built watering canals for livestock, and is constructing water tanks. An electric pump and kerosene-operated power generator have been placed in the well for a stable, rapid and large-volume flow of water.
The over 7,000 community residents now have access to the well-water free of charge for normal usage, user fees are charged to livestock owners (livestock herding is the main source of livelihood for villagers) who use the facilities to water their animals. These fees are funding the operation and maintenance costs associated with sustaining the water supply system. After covering all of these expenses, any surplus revenue is being placed in a community development fund that will support educational initiatives and community infrastructure improvement projects. Since 1998, Mercy-USA has repaired and rehabilitated 48 wells in Somalia.
Since 1994, Mercy-USA has been undertaking a well-recognized tuberculosis (TB) treatment and prevention program in Somalia. This program consists of three M-USA specialized treatment centers with public education and community outreach. The program also includes training of staff from TB centers that are administered by other organizations.
Opened in 1994, Mercy-USA’s center in Mogadishu was the first specialized TB treatment facility to begin operation in Somalia after the outbreak of civil war in 1990. M-USA’s second center opened in the northeastern city of Bosasso in 1995, and the third began in 1999 at our mother/child health clinic (MCH) in the southern town of Jilib.
Combined these three centers, which have a cure rate of about 85%, treated over 2,300 TB patients in 2003, including over 800 children. M-USA utilizes the most effective TB treatment strategy, the Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) method. During 2003, over 12,000 additional persons were also tested for potential TB infection by the laboratories at our centers.
In addition to testing and treatment, our centers educate their local communities about TB prevention. During 2003, about 4,000 persons attended health education seminars, while approximately 40,000 others indirectly benefited through regular educational radio programs conducted by Mercy-USA health personnel.
Also, in 2003, M-USA’s TB centers trained 3 doctors, 9 nurses and 6 laboratory technicians from other organizations, as well as 56 nursing students.
Through an agreement with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), M-USA’s Bosasso Center also provided 110,000 lb. of food for TB patients and their families.
Since 1994, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been providing M-USA with all TB medicines free-of-charge.
Since 1997, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development has operated a mother/child health clinic (MCH) in the Jilib District of southern Somalia. The MCH not only serves mothers, children, and women of childbearing age, but also the general public.
The clinic provides curative services, labor and delivery, pre-natal and post-natal care, immunizations, and micronutrients like vitamin A supplements. In 2003, over 15,000 persons were treated by our MCH staff, including 8,700 women and 5,850 children. Over 1,000 children under age one and 1,600 pregnant women were inoculated against measles, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio and tuberculosis. UNICEF provides M-USA with vaccines, medicines and other medical supplies.
From 1998 to 2002, Mercy-USA helped WHO to carry out annual polio eradication campaigns in Jilib District that immunized approximately 143,000 children against polio.
In 2002, M-USA helped control the outbreak of cholera in a portion of Jilib District, treating about 200 infected children and adults. UNICEF and WHO provided the necessary medical supplies free-of-charge.
Since 1997, M-USA has played a vital role in providing safe drinking water and controlling cholera in Somalia. Mercy-USA, with UNICEF support, continues to chlorinate 62 water sources (24 wells, 36 water tanks and 2 ice factories) around Mogadishu and 30 wells in Jilib District.
The repair of wells is another aspect of this safe water program. Since 1998, M-USA has repaired and rehabilitated 48 wells in the Jilib District. Approximately, 132,500 persons are benefiting from these safe water source projects.
During December 2002, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development distributed 500 insecticide-treated bed nets to families with pregnant women and children under five years of age living in villages around Jilib. Bed netting is a very effective method of preventing malaria infection. UNICEF supplied M-USA with the nets.
In 2001, Mercy-USA distributed 1,064 UNICEF-supplied bed nets to vulnerable residents in Jilib District.
During 2001, Mercy-USA mobile vaccination teams, with the support of UNICEF, inoculated 1,022 children under one and 1,601 pregnant women in the Jilib District. They were inoculated against measles, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio and tuberculosis. Additionally, over 10,000 children received vitamin A supplements. During 2000, M-USA vaccinated 3,700 children in Jilib against measles.
In December 2002, M-USA provided 60 HIV/AIDS orphans at the Child Rescue Center in Sotik, Kenya (about 150 miles southwest of Nairobi) with a variety of materials to support their education, provide for their shelter and improve the hygienic situation at the center.
These orphans are now benefiting from new classroom furniture, including tables and individual desks and chairs. M-USA also distributed 60 new beds with all bedding items, and provided construction material to build two new restrooms.
In 2001, Mercy-USA, in partnership with the local charity Dagoretti Health Community Services, rehabilitated ten wells in the Dagoretti Division of Kenya (near the capital of Nairobi). Many of the 70,000 residents of this area now have access to safe and sanitary drinking water.
Economic Growth and Income Generation
Mercy-USA is assisting survivors of the devastating December 2004 tsunami. In April 2005, M-USA will assist 50 tsunami-affected families in the devastated district of Haffun to restart their small fishing businesses. Mercy-USA will provide these families with nets, hooks, anchors, buoys and other necessary equipment to allow them to support themselves once again.
In 2001, M-USA distributed 132,000 pounds of corn and bean seeds to 4,800 drought-affected family farmers in the Mandera District of northeastern Kenya. The harvest from these seeds helped relieve food shortages for these families and others in their communities.
During 1999, Mercy-USA distributed 5,000 fishing kits to the same number of families living along the Juba River in the Jilib region. World Concern donated these items.
Through a 1999 grant from WFP, Mercy-USA rehabilitated 900 feet of the main road linking Jilib and Mogadishu. The repair of this section of road has greatly improved travel between the capital and the southern part of the country.
During 1999, Mercy-USA distributed 10,000 vegetable seed kits donated by World Concern to the most vulnerable family farmers in Jilib District. In 1998, with the support of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and CARE International, Mercy-USA provided 44,000 pounds of maize seed to vulnerable farmers in the same region.
Food and Shelter
In January 2004, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development distributed food packages to 740 drought-affected families in the village of Mesegawein in the central Galgadud Region of Somalia. Each package contained approximately 15 pounds of maize (corn), 15 lb. of sorghum, 7.4 lb. of beans and 3 quarts of cooking oil.
During 2000, Mercy-USA provided food packages to over 7,200 drought-affected families living in the Mandera District of Kenya and the Mergaga Refugee Camp in Somalia. A health team from M-USA’s Tuberculosis Treatment Center in Bosasso, Somalia also examined the Mergaga camp residents and dispensed vitamins and essential, life-saving drugs.
In 1997 and 1998, M-USA provided over two million pounds of food, 30,000 blankets and 4,000 water-carrying containers to flood victims in southern Somalia. WFP and UNICEF donated most of these items.
Mercy-USA periodically provides food and other essential items to persons in need.
Kosovo
Education
During January and February 2004, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development continued its successful program to protect the health of school children in Kosovo by making repairs and upgrades to the water and sanitation system at Ismail Qemali Primary School in Pristina.
Since 2000, M-USA, with primarily UNICEF funding, has made water and sanitation system and other repairs at 35 primary schools throughout Kosovo. These repairs are providing an environment that is far more conducive to education, as well as a safer, more sanitary one for over 13,000 children.
From January to June 2003, through a US Agency for International Development (USAID) sub-grant from Parsons Corporation, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development upgraded the water and sanitation systems and made other repairs at three schools, with approximately 950 students and staff, in the municipalities of Gnjilane/Gjilan and Lipljan/Lipjan.
In June 2002, Mercy-USA successfully completed the construction of a ten-classroom primary school in the village of Likovac/Likoc in central Kosovo. The school, named Emin Duraku, includes kindergarten to ninth grade and is serving approximately 500 students from Likovac/Likoc and five other surrounding villages in the municipality of Srbica/Skenderaj.
This project, which began in September 2001, was funded through a grant from the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and through the generous support of our private individual donors.
In May 2002, M-USA distributed educational supplies to a school in the village of Molliq located in the Djakovica/Gjakova municipality.
Food and Shelter
From 1998 to June 2004, Mercy-USA has provided food, shelter, clothing and hygiene assistance to over 110,000 vulnerable persons in Kosovo (including Macedonian refugees), as well as to over 105,000 Kosovar refugees who were in Albania and Bosnia during 1999.
Relief aid provided by M-USA during this period has included about 1,145,000 pounds of food, 688 family tents, 5,829 mattresses, 18,855 blankets, 7,000 cooking utensils, about 3,000 cooking stoves and units, 330 heaters, 400 boxes of toys, as well as 27,280 pieces of clothing, 3,785 pairs of shoes and 800 pairs of gloves. Mercy-USA has also provided over 5,000 hygiene packages containing soap, detergent, feminine hygiene products, etc.
From October 2001 to February 2002, Mercy-USA renovated and repaired 29 sites throughout Kosovo for use as community shelters. Approximately 5,100 homeless persons were able to use these renovated shelters (schools, orphanages, clinics, motels, barracks, dormitories, and office and apartment buildings) to keep warm, dry and safe during the winter months and throughout the year.
Since 1999, M-USA has renovated and repaired 88 sites for use as community shelters for over 11,000 homeless persons in Kosovo. UNMIK and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have funded these projects.
From October 1999 to January 2000, Mercy-USA carried out a partial-home-repair/winterization program in two villages, Brovina and Molliq. M-USA helped the 1,135 residents to partially repair 160 homes sufficiently to shelter them warmly during the winter.
In April 1999, M-USA received a grant from UNHCR to build a refugee camp in Mamuras, Albania, rehabilitate a collective center in Tirana, and construct water tanks and river-water filters. The camp and collective center were closed later that year after Kosovar refugees returned to their homes.
Health Improvement
From August 2003 through January 2004, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development built access ramps for persons with disabilities at 92 locations within 25 municipalities throughout Kosovo. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) funded this program.
From January 2003 to March 2004, with grants from the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Mercy-USA for Aid and Development renovated five Social Service Centers in Pristina, Lipljan/Lipjan, Kamenica, Mitrovica and Decan.
From January to June 2003, Mercy-USA carried out a US Government-funded upgrade and extension of the water supply system to Suvo Grlo/Suhogrelle Village in the Municipality of Srbica/Skenderaj. Through a USAID sub-grant from Parsons Corporation, M-USA completely upgraded the water supply system to this mixed Kosovar Albanian and Serb village of 754 inhabitants.
This completed project, which now brings fresh running water to each home in the village, involved upgrades to the existing water catchment system, the building of two new water reservoirs, and the installation of five miles of distribution pipes. The upgraded system is also very cost effective and sustainable since it utilizes gravity to move water from the reservoirs to the individual homes, instead of electricity.
In addition to work on the water supply system, the USAID sub-grant also funded the construction of two new restrooms for a small clinic in the village. The residents of Suvo Grlo/Suhogrelle are now benefiting from the increased health and sanitation resulting from these infrastructure improvements.
From February to May 2003, M-USA, with UNMIK support, also renovated the concrete retaining wall and expanded parking and external access ways to the Chest Hospital in Pristina.
During 2001, Mercy-USA, with a grant from UNICEF, renovated the water and sanitation system at the 370-bed Prizren Hospital. This hospital serves the over 80,000 inhabitants of the city of Prizren and surrounding villages, providing them with general surgery, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and urology services.
In 1999, M-USA repaired two public pharmacies and a clinic in the municipality of Djakovica. Mercy-USA also distributed medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to these facilities and the main hospital in Pristina. Combined these four health care institutions serve a population estimated at over 370,000.
Economic Growth and Income Generation
During 2001, under a grant from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Mercy-USA distributed over 666,700 pounds of potato seeds and 1,867,400 pounds of fertilizer to 6,062 vulnerable families in Kosovo.
The potatoes produced from these seeds and fertilizers helped our client families to feed themselves with dignity and to supplement their income by selling the extra harvest.
Since 2000, M-USA has distributed over 1,082,300 lb. of vegetable seeds, 16,310 fruit trees, 2,386,800 lb. of fertilizer and 7,020 agricultural spray canisters to over 15,000 farming families in Kosovo.
Civil Society
In 2002, M-USA repaired and refurbished regional Pension Fund buildings in Djakovica/Gjakova, Urosevac/Ferizaj, Gnjilane/Gjilan and Mitrovica. Also, during 2002, M-USA refurbished one Municipal Civil Registration Center in Malisheve/Malishevo municipality. UNMIK fully funded these refurbishment projects.
During 2000, Mercy-USA repaired and refurbished 112 sites in four regions –Pec/Peje, Prizren, Pristina and Gnjilane/Gjilan. These sites were used by UNMIK as voter registration and polling centers. UNMIK fully funded this refurbishment project.
India
Mercy-USA is assisting survivors of the devastating December 2004 tsunami. In January and February 2005, M-USA, through our local partner, United Economic Forum, distributed food packages (containing rice, lentils, oil, sugar, tea, etc.), kitchen kits (containing pots, pans, plates, bowls, cups, utensils, etc.), clothes, plastic tarpaulins, sheets and blankets to approximately 2,000 families left homeless by the tsunami in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
From August 2004 to February 2005, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development, through a grant to our local partner organization AFMI Charitable Trust (AFMI-CT), is funding the expansion of AFMI-CT’s hospital in the city of Baroda in the State of Gujarat. This expansion includes the addition of a new floor to the existing structure with a new operating theater, specialty treatment rooms, 25 more patient beds, new medical equipment and furniture.
The hospital, which currently treats over 17,000 patients annually, will be able to provide health services to an additional 5,000 patients each year after the expansion. In 2000, Mercy-USA helped this hospital with the purchase of an X-ray machine.
From August 2002 to June 2003, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development, through our local partner organization United Economic Forum (UEF), helped 262 families in 12 villages in the State of Gujarat in western India to rebuild or repair their homes, which were damaged during ethnic rioting. Families received bricks, cement, doors, windows, pipes, and zinc sheets for roofing.
From May to June 2002, Mercy-USA, in partnership with UEF, distributed 3,700 household/kitchen kits to 3,700 homeless families. The average household/kitchen kit included a kerosene camping stove, bucket, 5 pots and pans, 12 plates and bowls, 9 cups, kettle, rolling pin, 37 utensils, a pair of slippers, towel, bed sheet, comb, bar soap, teeth cleaning powder, etc.
In 2001, Mercy-USA, through UEF, distributed 995 tents, 10,000 blankets, food and medicine to approximately 10,000 earthquake survivors in Gujarat.
In February 1999, M-USA provided a grant to another local Indian charity, Al-Ata Vocational Training Centre for Women, to assist them with the purchase of a new building to house their main vocational training center in Hyderabad.
Mercy-USA periodically provides food to persons in need.
Bangladesh
From July to September 2004, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development (M-USA), through our local partner Islamic Aid Bangladesh (IAB), provided water purification tablets, oral rehydration salts (ORS) and various medicines to about 75,000 homeless persons in 17 flood-affected districts. M-USA also provided over 71,000 pounds of food to about 26,000 babies and other vulnerable persons left homeless by severe flooding in eight districts.
Approximately 15,500 families (75,000 persons) received water purification tablets to provide them with safe, healthy water. About 10,000 families (49,000 persons) received ORS tablets to prevent the deadly dehydration caused by severe diarrhea, while over 27,000 flood survivors were examined and received medicines to treat various abdominal, respiratory and skin diseases associated with contaminated water. Vitamins were also distributed to children, pregnant women and other vulnerable groups.
During the last half of August and September, M-USA, in partnership with IAB, provided 59,400 pounds of rice and 11,900 lb. of baby food to approximately 5,400 families (26,000 persons) left homeless by severe flooding in eight districts.
From October to December 2004, Mercy-USA, through our partner IAB, is rebuilding 140 homes destroyed by the flooding. During the same period, M-USA is also digging 140 tube wells to provide safe drinking water to approximately 28,000 persons. In addition, through IAB, Mercy-USA is constructing 168 sanitary latrines to improve hygienic conditions for about 8,400 flood-affected persons.
From November 2002 to February 2003, through a grant to IAB, M-USA rebuilt 73 homes destroyed by flooding in northern Bangladesh. M-USA also funded the digging of 40 new tube wells to provide safe drinking water to flood survivors in that region. Together, these projects have protected over 2,400 persons from the elements and from potentially serious water-borne illnesses.
During 2000 and 1999, M-USA partnered with IAB to provide 15,500 flood victims with about 165,000 pounds of food and also medicine.
In 1998, through a grant to IAB, M-USA rebuilt 90 homes destroyed during the severe summer and fall flooding that year. During 1997, through a similar grant to IAB, Mercy-USA rebuilt 60 homes and 6 schools destroyed by a devastating cyclone; Mercy-USA also provided dairy cows to 30 vulnerable farmers in the cyclone-affected area.
Mercy-USA periodically provides food and clothing to persons in need.
Chechen Refugees
Since December 1999, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development has provided occasional food aid to about 2,500 Chechen refugees in Turkey.
From September to December 2001, Mercy-USA provided packages containing food and hygiene items to about 4,000 Chechen refugees in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
United States
Mercy-USA provided $65,000 in cash grants to six major relief organizations directly helping the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our country. Grants were provided to the American Red Cross ($25,000), The Salvation Army ($15,000), and funds setup by New York Governor George Pataki ($10,000), New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ($10,000) and two firefighters’ associations ($5,000). Through these grants, the survivors, their families, and the rescue and recovery workers received food, personal care items, trauma counseling and other necessary support.
Mercy-USA has provided food aid, hygiene items, shelter assistance and other relief to the victims of disasters like the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the Los Angeles earthquake in 1994, and the severe Iowa floods of 1993.
Other Projects
In the last eighteen years, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development has provided millions of pounds of meat, flour, rice and other food items to persons in need around the world.
From 1999 to 2001, Mercy-USA provided food packages and shelter items to about 10,000 earthquake survivors in Turkey. M-USA distributed 1,550 family tents and 3,000 blankets to homeless earthquake survivors in five municipalities (Yalova, Golcuk, Adapazari, Izmit and Duzce).
In 2000, Mercy-USA, through its international partner organization the Committee for the Coordination of Volunteering Organizations (COSV), constructed 11 new homes for flood survivors living in a resettlement camp near the city of Matola, Mozambique. Families also benefited from a health and hygiene program and received disinfectant kits for latrines.
General Introduction | Albania | Bangladesh | Bosnia & Herzegovina
Chechen Refugees | India | Indonesia |Kosovo | Somalia & Kenya | United States | Others.
No discrimination in aid given, impartial and non-political.
Copyright 2006, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development, Inc.
Toll Free : 1-800-556-3729
Email: info@mercyusa.org
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