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 hospitals lack the space and equipment needed to meet the high number 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.

Hurricane Maria was the deadliest storm to hit U.S. soil in over 100 years. Now, two years later, communities still struggle to cope with damaged homes, a crippled health care system and a dearth of medicine, but some are learning to find strength from within – their families, communities, and, most importantly themselves.

Noncommunicable diseases are increasing at an alarming rate in both rural and urban India, with long-term consequences on the nation’s health and finances.

Even before Hurricane Maria brought widespread devastation to the island, Puerto Rico had a diabetes prevalence rate about 50% higher than the general U.S. population. A year after the storm, which caused over $90 billion in damage, locals are still working with charitable NGOs like Project HOPE to restore the territory’s disrupted healthcare system.

Though health care is readily available for its 10.4 million residents, the Caribbean’s second-most populous country also has the second-highest neonatal mortality rate in the region. With contributions from Project HOPE’s health workers, obstetric patients in the Dominican Republic are learning to find support and guidance from their doctors as well as their neighbors.