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.

Garambé was once one of the rural towns hardest hit with malaria in Guinea. Everyone was expected to take a turn with the disease when the rainy season started. People were resigned to having malaria, thinking that it was something they just had to accept. The nearest health center was several kilometers away, and the only antimalarial medicine available there was chloroquine.

Ariana Canhasi, e entuziasmuar dhe e frymëzuar nga studimet e saj tre vjeçare në Dizajn të brendshëm në Institutin e Dizajnit në Florencë të Italisë, u kthye në Kosovë, me diplomë në dorë, me synimin që të punojë për kompaninë e vogël të familjes  së saj për përpunimin e drurit. Nuk është saktësisht dizajn i brendshëm, por aty diku, mendoi ajo.

Pune energije i inspirisana trogodišnjim studijama u oblasti dizajna enterijera na Institutu za dizajn u Fiorentini, Italija, Arijana Canhasi se vratila na Kosovo – sa diplomom u ruci – da radi za malo drvnoprerađivačko preduzeće svoje porodice. Ne baš dizajn enterijera, ali dosta blizu, pomislila je.

Rajabmo Nazarova is one of many female farmers in the Khatlon province of southern Tajikistan who face difficulties feeding her large family. Although agriculture is the main industry in the region, undernutrition remains very high in Khatlon. In particular, children under 5 years old and women of reproductive age are most vulnerable to undernourishment. One in three children are stunted.

Energized and inspired by her three years studying interior design at the Florence Design Institute in Italy, Ariana Canhasi returned to Kosovo—degree in hand—planning to work for her family’s small wood processing company. Not exactly interior design, but close enough, she thought.

Marie Sylla has been a midwife for more than 15 years now at the maternity center of the regional hospital in Kindia, in the northeast of Conakry. As the head midwife, she has always been on the front line of efforts to protect the lives of children and women whose mortality rates are some of the highest in the world.

In Zambia, women hold a small minority of official leadership positions. While many desire to occupy leadership roles within their communities, workplaces, and on the national stage, they collectively do not have the skills and opportunities to ascend to these positions in significant numbers.

In Guinea, a country that has some of the lowest health indicators in the world, strengthening the Ministry of Health is important to improving health outcomes. And so is increasing the involvement of the National Assembly in health care budgeting as it represents the needs of the populace.

Without a labor ward at the local health center, expectant mothers in Kibaigwa village had to be rushed 45 kilometers over dirt roads and harsh terrain to the neighboring district to give birth. All that changed, however, when locals teamed up with USAID and a local non-governmental organization to learn how to push for change at the grassroots level. Read how this humble group of villagers were able to petition their local government for a women's labor ward of their own after getting a feel for civic engagement. 

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