This summer’s heatwave in North Korea has dried out the maize harvest and made the undernourished population even more dependent on outside help, the managing director of Mission East concludes after visiting the country. Mission East secures the water supply and makes agriculture more efficient.

A new, serious food crisis is looming in North Korea. This summer’s heatwave brought temperatures of up to 40 degrees for a whole month and dried out the country’s maize fields. The harvest is expected to be reduced by 30 per cent.

On Mount Sinjar in Northern Iraq Mission East helps local Yazidis to create a new life for themselves. The activities include beekeeping and growing vegetables in large greenhouses.

By Kim Wiesener, Communications Manager

While Heba puts on her protection suit, the bees are humming loudly, joyfully and persistently in the background – as to emphasize the necessity of shielding oneself against their stings. She walks over to one of the beehives, opens the lid and proudly displays its contents.

Mavriya was a child with a disability, so all the odds were against her. But then she started attending Mission East’s rehabilitation centre, and today the young Tajik woman is running her own small business.

By Hilola Ashurova, Mission East Tajikistan & Kim Wiesener, Communication Manager – June 2018

When women learn to count numbers, calculate and save up money, they can fund small businesses and improve their living conditions.

By Susanne Madsen, Fundraiser and Line Højland, Communications Officer – June 2018

In Jhupu Rokaya’s village Murma, the women have a large metal box with three locks on. Jhupu has the key to one of the locks, but to open the box, the keepers of the two other keys must be present too.

A new Mission East project trains the poverty-stricken Mara people in cultivating crops all year round. It will provide children and adults with better nutrition.

By Line Højland, Communications Officer – June 2018

Pawtlei and her old mother struggle to keep hunger at bay. They belong to the isolated Christian Mara people in Myanmar's Chin State, one of the least developed areas of the country.

Thadak Hlaing’s dream is to pass her exam and do charity work for the benefit of her people. At the COME school she gets help with the difficult exams.

By Alex Ramos-Peña, HQ Programme Manager and Line Højland, Communications Officer – June 2018