Click on the links below to read inspiring stories of hope, survival and success as people across Indonesia work together to build a better future.

Geneva, Switzerland, 19/8/2010 -- Two images of Shirley flash intermittently back and forth in my head: one, of Shirley smiling, laughing with tsunami survivors in Indonesia; the other, of a bloodied Shirley, slumped against the door of a bullet-riddled car in Afghanistan. I never saw the second image, but it’s in my head anyway. For the past two years, it hasn’t left.

, 7/5/2010 -- Guilley, a village deep in Niger, reflects the impact of the food crisis that 6,130 villages are living through in Niger. But Guilley also reflects the resilience and the resourcefulness of women in coping through crises in the Sahel.

Pulo Merak, Banten, 1/5/2010 -- It was mental torture for Fatmawati having her close neighbors throwing her worried and suspicious glances every time she passed by their houses. It was started merely as whispers then spread into rumor that the women had a cursed disease. Her body weight was strangely and drastically dropping to only 35 kg, giving evidence to the suspicion. Feeling very low, Fatmawati decided to socially exclude herself and avoided any kind of contact with the neighbors.

Haiti, 1/3/2010 -- This past February 7, between 5:30 and 6 p.m., Tania was returning from the well when she felt a cold blade against her neck. She turned around and smiled, thinking it was a joke, when she recognized the man who was threatening her as her friend’s boyfriend. She greeted him and was surprised to see him keep his threatening posture and his machete pressed against her. “You move, you scream, and I’ll cut you into pieces,” he said to her.

Banda Aceh, 7/12/2009 -- It was high noon in Banda Aceh, a city that was devastated by the great tsunami in late 2004. The capital of the northernmost province on Sumatra and in Indonesia sounds rather quiet. For the past five years, it has struggled to re-emerge. Today, rows of new buildings are seen in every corner: offices, stores, houses, and schools. All were painted in modern colors. A sign of the city’s rebirth.

Korong Barang-barangan, West Sumatra, 7/10/2009 -- Behind hills and lines of trees, perching on the edge of a cliff in the highlands 45 kilometers from the city of Pariaman, the village of Korong Barang-barangan is effectively hidden from the world. The village is not connected to the power or water grids. So when the earthquake struck in the afternoon of September 30, causing massive damage to the infrastructure and houses, the community silently survived in their own modest way, without any help from anybody.

Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 6/10/2009 -- It was Wednesday afternoon in the village of Tanjung Alai. Sariani had just finished her prayers and was sitting in the living room watching TV with her five-year-old grandchild, Farisa. It was a regular evening; everything was just fine until the ground started to shake.

Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 5/10/2009 -- Zaimarti is sitting on the corner of a wooden bench in front of what used to be her home, finishing her lunch – instant noodles with some rice. It’s the same menu she’s had for the past five days, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Tangerang, Banten, 1/9/2009 -- In Indonesia, the workers are usually hired by their employer on a contractual basis. In the garment factory, most of the workers are female with ages ranging widely from the 20s to the 50s. They work six days per week starting from 7 am to 3 pm with a daily production target to meet. Often, they are asked to work overtime. Working around the clock, they are trying hard to play their roles as breadwinners, mothers, wives, and as a members of society.

Tangerang, Banten, 25/8/2009 -- The 28-year old Dini Kusumawadini, the woman’s name, comes from a family of six. She is the second child in the family. They live in Legoso Permai, Ciputat, a densely populated sub-district in the Banten Province of Indonesia. Not long after graduating from High School, Dini worked in a towel factory. Her job was to wrap towels into nice packaging for future sales. Every day, she inhaled dusty air and soft fiber while doing the chores. With constant respiratory problems for almost two years, Dini gradually became less productive at work. After experiencing endless coughing for some time, she decided to quit her job.

Tangerang, Banten, 28/7/2009 -- In blue jeans and a pink Mickey Mouse jacket, Kaminah looks like an ordinary teen. Like most girls her age, when you smile at her, she smiles back, timidly. In a glimpse, no one would think that the girl is a victim of cruel violence; a horrific episode that revealed her courage to fight for her rights as a human being and as a child.

North Sulawesi, 30/3/2009 -- Lorong Pepaya looks empty at noon, not many people are seen in the area. Wearing a short-sleeve T-shirt, Nisa sits on a wall bench against the iron fence. Her lips are moving, silently counting the packs of condoms in her bag. Her wrinkled face and army-cut hair make the thin middle-aged woman look tired.

Gaza, 6/1/2009 -- My child just started crying – she just heard on the news that Israel will start bombing our neighbourhood, because there are allegedly insurgents living here. She has been having nightmares that our house will be totally destroyed, and our family will die under it. She has seen the photos of other destroyed homes on TV.

Klaten, Central Java, 5/1/2009 -- Wearing boots, gloves and helmet, the female construction workers looks very professional. Skillfully, they lift up buckets of sand and pour it into the building foundation that they have already dug. Every once in awhile, they wipe the sweat that is running down their foreheads. 

DR Congo, 7/11/2008 -- I've been in the DRC for a year, working with women who have experienced abuse and violence and talking to them about the impact that this has had on their lives.

Jakarta, 1/10/2008 -- It is a broad day light Friday. The Muara Angke neighborhood, a fishing area in Jakarta’s northern coast, looks crammed and grimy with rows of wooden huts lining up, like a long fisherman’s rod. The wind smells like the sea, peppered with salt in its every blow.

Makassar, 1/10/2008 -- The old man is standing next to his motorbike. His shoulder is a bit bended from carrying a heavy burden in his shoulder when he was young. Under the heat of the broad day sun, his skin looks dark brown.

Haiti, 25/9/2008 -- Islande Bonne Joseph is sitting in front of me wearing a pretty checked dress, her hair carefully tied back. Her huge smile is warm and heartfelt. Dressed in her Sunday clothes Islande may look timid, but this young woman is anything but.

West Timor, 11/8/2008 -- The mother smiles while holding Carlos, her 18-month-old, a healthy baby with chubby cheeks. “I gave Carlos only breast milk from birth until he was six months old. His growth was excellent and he was not so easily sick. Now, Carlos has started talking and he is pretty good at walking,” said Felisitas Molo, 34. Staring at the baby, Theodorus Fallo, 38, Carlos’ father, smiled proudly.  

West Timor, 11/8/2008 -- It’s been eight years since Yashinta, 33, and her husband, Laban, 42, and their four children left their ancestors’ land of East Timor. They were part of around 300,000 people who fled to the other side of the island when East Timor declared itself an independent country and separated from Indonesia, on 20 May 2002.

Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, 23/6/2008 -- Lawang Kajang village, where Soemito Landik 43, his wife, Normi, and their four children live, is located in Central Kalimantan, in the sub-basin area of the Kapuas River, the longest river in Indonesia. It is also a home for another 256 families. Like other villages on both sides of Kapuas River, the waterway is the only route connecting the villages with their neighbors, and the outside world.

, 13/5/2008 -- CARE’s emergency teams are reporting traumatic scenes of decaying bodies strewn amongst piles of debris in the Irrawaddy delta. Disease is now a major concern. Nay Myo Zaw, one of CARE’s staff on the ground has shared some of the survivors’ heartbreaking stories.

Tangerang, Banten, 29/1/2008 -- After 20 years living in his humble house in Sukawali village, Tangerang, Grandpa Rusu and his family had never thought they will be able to build a well and latrine for the family. “Before, it’s stinking in here, because people, including us, did not have latrines. If we need to go, we would have just gone to that small river over there,” said the old man, pointing at a small stream in the distance. “Especially during the dry season, it smells horrible,” he added, shaking his head slowly.

Indonesia, 27/12/2007 -- Reference to “environmental hazards” usually conjures up images of industrial development, hulking factories or smokestacks. So it’s hard to imagine that something as seemingly benign as a rice paddy could trigger a major environmental disaster. But that’s precisely what happened in Indonesia’s Kalimantan Province on the Island of Borneo.

Bangladesh, 30/11/2007 -- "Water is my life“, says Rustam Ali Howladar. "But it nearly meant my death“. The 55-year old fisherman was fishing in the Sundarbans, one of the biggest mangrove forests in the world. Suddenly he sensed a strong storm coming. It was cyclone Sidr and it swept over Southern Bangladesh at 240 kilometers an hour.

Jantho, Aceh, 4/10/2007 -- Ibu Rahmani stands in a small field cut into the jungle-covered hillside of Jantho, Aceh. There are no signs of damage; the houses here are humble but strong.

“There was no tsunami here, Alhamdulillah (thanks be to God),” said Ibu Rahmani, referring to the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 132,000 people in Aceh. “But we suffered in other ways.”

Lais, Indonesia, 14/9/2007 -- Today, the only thing 55-year-old Pak Darkasih is thankful for is that his family is still alive. When Wednesday’s massive earthquake destroyed his village in Lais, he lost his house, his food supply for the next few months, and all his belongings except the few pieces of furniture they managed to save from the rubble.

East Nusa Tenggara, 18/4/2007 -- Two days after giving birth to her second child, Maria Modesta Kolo contracted malaria. Weakened from a difficult pregnancy, it took her more than a month to recover; in the meantime, she couldn’t breastfeed, couldn’t care for her newborn.

Nian, East Nusa Tenggara, 14/4/2007 -- Here in one of the poorest villages in Indonesia, there are no international aid agencies, no aid projects; even CARE’s program ended six months ago. But Laurence Kenjam, whose family has worked the land here for generations, says that’s because now they no longer need help.

Kleseleon, East Nusa Tenggara, 14/4/2007 -- Since she was old enough to carry a jerry can, Miliani Luruk has been walking four kilometres a day to fetch water for her family. Today, Mrs. Luruk walks just four metres – to a newly-dug well beside her house.

Belu, East Nusa Tenggara, 13/4/2007 -- Eyes and nose sunken, skin stretched taught over bone, tiny stomach painfully bloated, baby Soviana is the face of malnutrition in West Timor. At ten months old, she was just 2.6 kg when she first arrived at the Therapeutic Feeding Centre in Belu nearly two weeks ago – less than she weighed when she was born.

Tangerang, 7/2/2007 -- To one side, it is the ocean; the other, a sea of foul-smelling floodwaters. This small community of 120 families is caught in the middle, with filthy water seeping across everything in reach.

Tangerang, 6/2/2007 -- "The river rose so fast, people were only able to get out with what they had on their backs." Program Manager Frank Page is leading CARE’s emergency response to the Jakarta floods, and tells of the devastation on the ground and the amazing generosity and resilience of the people of Jakarta.

Aceh Taming, Indonesia, 27/12/2006 -- Ibu Wiwik sits on her front steps, all that remains of her house. “It’s gone,” she said, waving a tired hand at the pile of wooden planks and roofing, half-submerged in water and mud. “All gone.”

Banda Aceh, NAD, 17/12/2006 -- CARE health specialist Marge Tsitouris was in Aceh one year ago when CARE promised the community of Lambaro Skep a new health clinic. One year later, the new clinic is rebuilt, with trained staff, modern equipment, and a new maternity ward.

Lambaro Skep, Aceh, 22/11/2006 -- "We had survived, but I thought we were finished,” said Pak Sulaiman Adam, who lost everything in the tsunami. “But after CARE came and started building, I started to think to the future, and making plans. I thought, ‘we can start again.’”

Jantho, Aceh, 20/11/2006 -- Just back from kindergarten, four-year-old Marlina has spent the morning playing with the other children, tsunami survivors like her who have moved with their families to a new home, safe from the sea...

Sinabang, NAD, 5/10/2006 -- Three-year-old Bellian clambers up on one of the empty beds, hauling a shiny toy motorcycle up after him and ignoring his mother’s calls to finish his milk. “He’s too busy playing to eat,” she said with a smile.

Simeulue, NAD, 2/10/2006 -- Adrimansyah, 54, loves chocolate – even though he tried it for the first time only a year ago. Today, he’s banking on the world’s love of organic chocolate to improve the standard of living for himself and his family.

Yogyakarta, 21/9/2006 -- “When the earthquake happened, I had to close my shop because there was no business,” says Ngarofan, a 38-year-old shop owner in Yogyakarta. “Now business is back to normal... and I can help my community.”

Aceh, 7/8/2006 -- With community planning, tsunami survivors map out the best routes to take to escape in case of another disaster.

Klaten, Jawa Tengah, 6/3/2006 --

Crawling on her knees, bricks and housing tiles crashing to the ground around her, Ibu Daroyah struggled to get home as the earth lurched and rolled beneath her. “All I could think of was my children...”

Klaten, Indonesia, 6/2/2006 -- They pulled his tiny body out of the rubble at 7 a.m. He died four hours later. “He looked like he was sleeping,” his mother, Endang, said, tears welling in her eyes. “Just sleeping.” Six days after the deadly earthquake that struck Indonesia’s Yogyakarta region and left more than 600,000 people homeless, survivors are still struggling to cope with the devastation and loss...

Lambaro Skep, Aceh, 23/12/2005 -- Squeals of laughter echo through the night as dozens of children jockey to get a better view. One mother cradling a sleeping infant laughed so hard the baby woke up, blinking at the sudden interruption.

Saree, Aceh Besar, 16/12/2005 -- They named themselves after the Seroja – the most resilient of Acehnese flowers, it pushes up from barren ground, thriving in the most difficult conditions.

Simeulue, Indonesia, 15/12/2005 -- In a small corner set aside as a CARE Therapeutic Feeding Centre in a large tent temporarily serving as a hospital in Sinabang, a slender woman named Nursanti breast feeds her 18-month-old daughter Famy.

Simeulue, Indonesia, 15/12/2005 -- She was spinning her wheels as a general practitioner at a government health centre when Dr Hana Koedji Wadoe heard about CARE's work in Indonesia and decided it was time for a change.

Banda Aceh, 15/6/2005 -- Pak Baharuddin reads a poem nailed to the wall of his make-shift plywood shelter. The 49-year-old fisherman, with thinning hair, chocolate skin and furrowed brow, wrote it when he returned to his village in February.