“What would you do?”
It is such a simple question.
What would you do if you knew that the child standing next to you on the sidewalk was about to dart out into traffic? You would stop her, of course.…

This time of year brings the end of summer vacations and a return to the routines of school. The rituals associated with Back to School season are familiar and reassuring: new clothes, school supplies, book bags and lunch boxes to…

Six months ago the earth shook in Haiti for 35 seconds. Thirty five seconds that ended so many lives and changed many more. Let me share with you a story that is very typical of life in Haiti over the…

I recently had the privilege of delivering the commencement address at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmittsburg, Maryland, just about an hour’s drive from Catholic Relief Services’ world headquarters in Baltimore. I’d like to share just a bit of what…

Our commemoration of Mother’s Day offers us an opportunity to acknowledge the great contribution of women in our lives. From our own mothers, who gave us life and nurtured us as we grew, to our grandmothers, sisters, wives, daughters and…

It comes as no surprise that the tragic earthquake in Haiti has attracted an enormous amount of media attention. In my own interviews, I’ve been asked by reporters how I account for the incredible and generous response of the American…

As the summer was drawing to a close, we heard of the death of Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution, which lifted millions of people, mostly in Asia, out of hunger through the production of high-yield varieties of…

Dear Friend,
The answer is: Moldova.
The question is: What is the most destitute country in Europe?
And the category is: Needless Suffering.
That’s how it might go if this were the game show Jeopardy. But life in a place…

Not long ago, Aminata Yattara sat at home on a stool in the dirt, pounding millet and dreaming about the day she could toss the pestle and pick up a pencil. School dominated her thoughts on her way to pull…

The highly skilled professionals who work at international humanitarian organizations have developed our own “insider” language to describe the work we do. For example, many humanitarians refer to the people we serve as “stakeholders.” Others call them “beneficiaries.”
I prefer…