Sometimes it takes just one person to help change a community. Semira is a volunteer who was driven to change the stigma attached to HIV infection and speaks from the heart as she helps others overcome the fear of being tested and getting the help they need. Join us this International Women's Day in celebrating women's achievement and empowerment as exemplified by Semira's courage, strength and efforts to give back.

The lifesaving impact we make all around the world is evident and visible in so many ways. Take a look at these exemplary photos that depict the HOPE that you have helped us deliver in 2018.

40-year-old Aman has emerged as a beacon of hope for his small Ethiopian community. Among his family, his coworkers, his classmates and his community, his positivity shines brightly in the shadow of the positive HIV diagnosis he received just a year ago.

In the seven months since he was born, Joshua, a patient at Los Mina hospital in the Dominican Republic, has had five surgeries for complications involving his bile ducts. With limited equipment and staff, doctors are doing all they can to save babies like Joshua and reduce the country’s alarming neonatal and infant mortality rate.

Diabetes is the second-most common cause of death in South Africa. Lifestyle and diet choices are fueling the problem, but the country’s overburdened public health system is having trouble dealing with the nearly 10,000 new cases diagnosed each month. In the isolated Northern Cape province, diabetes treatment is especially hard to come by. With help from local healthcare professionals like Rita Venter, Project HOPE is working to change that.

Nora is a great-grandmother who lives outside a remote village in Namibia. Nearly blind and infected with HIV, her commitment to her family never wanes – especially for the children orphaned at her doorstep.

We’ve come so far. From the day the S.S. HOPE first emerged on the horizon offering health and healing to those who watched the ship’s approach, to the land-based missions of today, Project HOPE has offered helping hands to those in need.

Thousands of displaced Venezuelans are still pouring across the border with Colombia each day, escaping extreme food and medicine shortages and exponential inflation. As Project HOPE continues to scale up its health care service provisions in border regions, our team on the ground reports on how the Colombian health care system is handling this significant spike in patient volume.

Neonatal and obstetric care is challenging in the Dominican Republic – nearly all births in the nation of 10.7 million take place at hospitals, yet many lack the space and equipment needed to meet the high volume of patients. With help from volunteers like obstetrician Jen Ballard, Project HOPE is working to reduce the Dominican neonatal mortality rate and provide care to expectant mothers – many of whom are still teenagers.

Project HOPE works around the world to support and implement health care programs that literally change the perspective and direction of lives – for children, teenagers, mothers, families and communities.

When disaster strikes, mental health support is just as important as physical aid. Karen Beetle has been volunteering for years; after hearing about the devastation Hurricane Maria brought to the Caribbean, she knew her skills were needed.