Our Favorite Photos of 2024

Project HOPE improved access to health care for millions of people in 36 countries this year, including families living through wars in Gaza and Ukraine, a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, and a once-in-a-generation hurricane in North Carolina.  

At the core of our work is a shared humanity that stretches across everything we do. We believe that everyone deserves hope, that health is a fundamental human right, and that together we can strengthen access to care around the world.   

In a year of difficult health challenges, you helped us provide lifesaving care to people who needed it most. Here are some of our favorite photos of the work we accomplished together in 2024. 

Ukraine

From Artem Murach, Ukraine Communications Manager: 

This photo shows the spirit of resilience in Kherson—a city so close to the front line that danger is a constant companion.  

What struck me most about that day was the sharp contrast between destruction and determination. Behind the somber expression of Inna, director of the Kherson Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital, stand the remains of two ambulances, their shattered windshields and punctured metal a reminder of the relentless shelling the region has endured. These vehicles, once lifelines to children in remote villages, now tell a story of the challenges faced by health workers in the midst of war in Ukraine.  

Meeting Inna was inspiring. She and her team have stayed strong, providing medical care in difficult circumstances. The hospital tour showed the damage and the strength of those who work there. I was moved by the collection of missile fragments the doctors had removed from children’s bodies. Each piece was a symbol of the violence these young patients had endured. It was also a testament to the doctors’ skill and dedication. Inna’s words echo in my mind: “No child was lost.” 

What I love about this photo is how it captures the story of survival and hope. The hospital has become a haven not only for physical healing, but also for psychological recovery, thanks to Project HOPE’s mental health and psychosocial support center, established in the basement of the hospital.  

I left that day with a new sense of purpose. Project HOPE’s work in Kherson shows what it means to support those in need. This is what makes the mission so impactful: it helps people rebuild their lives. 

Sierra Leone

   

From photographer James Buck: 

One of the things I love about working with Project HOPE is witnessing the utter determination and resourcefulness of the human spirit. In this trip to Sierra Leone, which has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, I saw brave and resilient health care workers helping women become mothers using every tool at their disposal.  

Where pain medicine was unavailable for birth in rural clinics, midwives used song and dance to help laboring mothers work through the pain. I also saw the impact of our work training those midwives to help resuscitate babies that struggled to breathe at birth, and the confidence and joy that came with knowing they could help laboring mothers deliver more safely. 

Ecuador 

From photographer James Buck: 

In Ecuador, migrant families—many with young children—trek hundreds of miles by foot in search of a better life. Migrants are incredibly vulnerable on their own, and this family told us how they were trafficked for labor and barely escaped with their lives.  

I met them and heard their story because three of their six young children playfully engaged me with the camera, as kids often do, and had the best time learning how to use my camera and photograph each other. My colleague Scott and I played with the kids and pushed them on the swings while their parents got medical care a few steps away. It was a joyful experience to have a moment of fun with them on their arduous journey. 

Mexico 

From photographer Marie Arago: 

These schoolgirls from the outskirts of Mexico City are participants in the AstraZeneca Young Health Program, an initiative that empowers young people to develop and promote healthy habits. It was a pleasure to meet these young girls and hear how their stories of having family members with diabetes had inspired them to make healthier choices in their lives and teach others to do the same.  

On the day this photograph was made, the girls were participating in an event called “Girls Belong Here” hosted by Project HOPE and AstraZeneca. The girls were so excited be part of this forum, where they would meet with students from other schools across Mexico City and hear from various female speakers. In this photo, the students are pictured getting off the bus, arriving at AstraZeneca’s office for the event. 

Haiti 

From photographer James Buck: 

I have worked all over the world, and this village in the mountains of Haiti is one of the hardest places to get to that I’ve ever been. It takes hours to drive along rocky trails atop jagged mountains in a 4×4 SUV. But for the people who live there, it’s an even longer walk down the mountain to get to medical care, if they can afford it at all.  

I am always amazed by the reach of Project HOPE—we bring care to some of the most remote places on Earth. This woman was treated at one of our mobile medical clinics and passionately advocated for more for her community. She took me to her home and showed me where she lived and cooked, and I was so moved by her story. I was also getting sick that day, an illness that followed me home and put me in the hospital several days later, where I was reminded of my privilege to receive care close to home and renewed in my commitment to help Project HOPE bring that care over mountaintops to people like her. 

Poland 

Ukrainian refugee children play at a Project HOPE mobile unit for mental health and psychosocial support in Dobczyce, Poland. More than 150 Ukrainian women, children, seniors, and people with disabilities are sheltering at a hotel while they wait for the war in Ukraine to end. As part of the process of helping them find healing, Project HOPE psychologists conduct art therapy sessions at the center to help refugees express their emotions and better adjust to a life in limbo. In the last year, Project HOPE has provided more than 400 mental health sessions for Ukrainian refugees in Poland. 

Gaza 

In this photo, two young girls in Gaza lie on a mattress donated by Project HOPE’s local partner, Anera, which distributed mattresses to displaced communities living in the Al Salam camp in Rafah. The war in Gaza has disrupted life for the entire population, forcing families and children to endure multiple displacements in search for safety. As part of our growing work in Gaza, Project HOPE has delivered 12,000 blankets, 6,000 mattresses, and 21,000 pounds of medical supplies. Our clinics in Deir al Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah provided nearly 61,000 medical consultations, screened more than 11,000 people for malnutrition, and distributed more than 2,400 doses of polio vaccinations in coordination with the World Health Organization. 

Honduras 

From photographer James Buck: 

Wherever I go in the world with Project HOPE, I meet the most dedicated people. From community health workers going door-to-door in their communities all the way up to country directors leading major programs, I meet people utterly devoted to improving the lives and health of the people around them. Marco Antonio Suazo, Project HOPE’s country director in Honduras, fully embodies the spirit of his team: passionate, committed, and joyful about the vital work they’re doing expanding access to health care for migrant families transiting through their country. 

China 

China is home to the world’s largest diabetes epidemic, with 1 in 10 adults living with the disease. Project HOPE’s 5 Steps to Self-Care curriculum empowers people living with diabetes to improve their health and well-being by educating them to “know their numbers” and monitor their blood glucose levels, body mass index, blood pressure, and lipids. At this group session in Shanghai, community members work together to improve their knowledge of diabetes so they can better manage their health. 

Nigeria 

On a dusty afternoon in Nigeria’s Kano State, 15 young men gather in the shade of an outdoor seating area in the community of Sabon Gari. Facing serious economic and social challenges, they have found support thanks to a woman they call “Aunty Fati” and the mental health group they all attend.  

Each week, they talk about the dangers of drug use, ways to manage feelings of anger and frustration, and healthy coping mechanisms like deep breathing and stretching. They also discuss how they can support one another — inviting a radical shift in an environment where conflict and division are a norm. The group addresses other health risks associated with drug use and violence as well, such as the heightened risk of HIV. Fati provides medication for group members living with HIV and makes sure they take it.  

“There’s an old saying: ‘Youth are the backbone of every community and the leaders of tomorrow,’” Fati says. “Because of this, I decided to become a facilitator for the youth mental health group, to contribute any way I can in order to positively impact their lives.”   

Lebanon 

Project HOPE team members deliver pillows to a shelter in Lebanon, where displaced families began seeking safety due to the escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah. More than 1 million people have been displaced by the conflict — roughly 1 in 5 people in Lebanon — further straining a health system already facing great need.  

Project HOPE’s Emergency Response Team distributed hygiene and winterization items to 18 shelters in the Mount Lebanon, Beirut, Beqaa, and Baalbeck-Hermel governates. Project HOPE also launched a mobile medical unit staffed by specialized local doctors and nurses to provide essential health services — including primary health care services, screening activities, vaccinations, and mental health support — to displaced families and host community members struggling to access care.   

United States 

From photographer James Buck: 

When a large-scale disaster rocks the world, images we see on the news usually show the destruction. But when I deploy, I know the real cost will be hidden communities beyond the reach of most relief efforts. And that’s where I go with Project HOPE. In North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, I traveled with our partner, Vecinos, a charitable clinic that serves local migrant farm workers. The families we visited lived in ultra-rural areas and had lost power and water for two weeks. They work from dawn to dusk and live in tightly packed bunkhouses, affording them little opportunity to get health care. When Vecinos showed up, the smiles and the joy said it all. I am so delighted to see the care that Project HOPE brings to people around the world — the sense of not being forgotten.