As part of its USDA-supported school feeding program, PCI Guatemala has distributed 60,000 books in Spanish and Mam languages for students in first through third grade to use at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The books, which were delivered directly to parents and schools principals, were received as a grant from a literacy project supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by PCI and its partner Juárez & Associates. (Photos by Nery Sosa/PCI Guatemala)

To help Women Empowered group members who are struggling to obtain affordable, healthy food due to a loss of income during the COVID-19 pandemic, PCI Guatemala provided 100 families with eight hens each as well as vegetable seed kits to grow turnips, spinach, chard and beans at home. PCI also coordinated with local municipalities to provide chicken feeders, waterers, vitamins and antibiotics to help the families maintain healthy poultry coops. (Photos by Nery Sosa/PCI Guatemala)

PCI Guatemala recently supported the Ministry of Health and other government institutions in carrying out the “72 Hours for Huehue” campaign by providing COVID-19 risk communication and setting up diagnostic centers throughout the capital city. Over the course of three days, a total of 2,878 free COVID-19 tests were conducted, resulting in 193 positive cases. This campaign will be replicated in the department of Huehuetenango’s remaining 32 municipalities. (Photo by Nery Sosa/PCI Guatemala)

In Guatemala, technology is ensuring that children and adults alike are able to improve literacy during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. With the Bloom Reader app, families are learning together, reading stories to each other and getting coronavirus prevention tips. (Photo by Nery Sosa/PCI Guatemala)

In the dry corridor of western Guatemala, mushroom farming has proven to be a valuable source of income and fresh, nutritious food for families experiencing economic and food security challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I feel very happy to be part of this group and to have learned a way to get ahead,” said Ana Tòrres, a Women Empowered group member who learned how to produce oyster mushrooms through ¡ÁNIMO!, an emergency food security project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by PCI. (Photo by Gesler Castillo/PCI Guatemala)

To help families facing economic hardship and food insecurity due to COVID-19, Women Empowered groups in Guatemala are providing loans for members to purchase and sell food at community markets. (Photo by Gesler Castillo/PCI Guatemala)

Khalil and his parents are just one of several San Diego families that PCI’s Healthy Start program has assisted during the COVID-19 pandemic. After traveling abroad for work, Khalil’s dad had to quarantine from his wife and newborn son for 14 days. Chardá Fontenot, a perinatal navigator and doula with PCI, was able to conduct a virtual visit with the couple, providing breastfeeding tips and vital infant nutrition guidance. Even while apart, these new parents were able to learn and provide the best opportunity for their child to thrive. (Photo courtesy of Chardá Fontenot/PCI)

In recognition of National Breastfeeding Month and Black Breastfeeding Week (August 25-31), PCI’s Healthy Start team and key partners organized a “Black Breastfeeding Swag Bag Pick Up” event in San Diego. Breastfeeding parents were invited to drive through a designated location and pick up supplies to support breastfeeding, including nursing cream and pads, a breastfeeding bracelet and key health information. (Photo courtesy of Chardá Fontenot/PCI)

Women in Jehanabad, Bihar, resume their JEEViKA self-help group meetings to discuss the health and nutrition needs of their families while maintaining COVID-19 safety protocols. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, JEEViKA self-help groups in Bihar, India, are building community support for a sustainable solution to child malnutrition issues by sharing knowledge on early and exclusive breastfeeding. (Photos by PCI/India staff)

PCI/India, with Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society, is resuming activities and discussions with women’s self-help groups on adolescent girls’ empowerment while maintaining COVID-19 safety protocols. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

Poor awareness among rural families, which leads to non-consumption of anti-filarial drugs, accounts for a large number of lymphatic filariasis cases during adolescence. Recognizing this, PCI/India is committed to supporting local, state and national governments in preventing the next generation of neglected tropical diseases through social mobilization efforts and Mass Drug Administration campaigns that also follow COVID-19 safety protocols. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

Drug administrators follow COVID-19 safety protocols while make early morning household visits to ensure local community members consume anti-filarial drugs before they go to the field for work. PCI/India is committed to helping the Government of India tackle lymphatic filariasis, a mosquito-borne neglected tropical disease and the second-largest cause of disability worldwide. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

Even in the face of COVID-19, PCI/India remains committed to protecting and advancing public health gains made in the fight against neglected tropical diseases such as lymphatic filariasis. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

To support the Government of West Bengal’s efforts to eliminate kala-azar, PCI/India continues to raise awareness among community members in the state’s remotest villages. Kala-azar is the second-largest parasitic killer in the world and one of the most dangerous neglected tropical diseases. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

PCI/Guatemala’s Nuestra Cosecha project (“Our Harvest” in Spanish), in coordination with the Ministry of Education, has safely distributed 10.45 metric tons (nearly 23,040 pounds) of vegetables and fruits for 3,775 students and their families in 17 communities in the municipalities of Barillas and Santa Eulalia. This local produce serves as an important source of nutrition for vulnerable families during the COVID-19 pandemic, as lockdown measures limit or prevent access to markets, work opportunities and affordable food options. Nuestra Cosecha is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (Photo by Nery Sosa/PCI Guatemala)

Prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, 44 new employers agreed to host interns from PCI’s Ready to Work program. After completing training modules related to financial literacy, interpersonal communication, vocational skills and entrepreneurship, the interns recently started six weeks of job shadowing. Employers include guest houses and lodges, restaurants, hair salons, internet cafes and other local businesses. (Photo by Daniel Watts/PCI Botswana)

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many women and children around the world to miss out on essential health services such as maternal and antenatal care, immunizations and nutrition support. PCI India is working alongside partners on the ground to ensure health workers have the knowledge, resources and support needed to safely continue providing these services in hard-to-reach areas of Bihar. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

With training from PCI, JEEViKA self-help group members in Bihar, India, are learning, practicing and promoting safe handwashing techniques to protect their families and communities from the spread of COVID-19. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

To combat feelings of stress caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, boys at PCI Children’s Home in Mewat, Haryana, have been practicing yoga. They say this exercise discipline has helped them to balance their bodies and minds while also improving their focus during these challenging times. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

Before women’s self-help groups and village organizations resume meeting again, PCI’s UMANG project field staff are ensuring members and participants understand COVID-19 safety guidelines through phone-based sessions. During lockdown, field staff have also been conducting remote check-ins with women to better understand how the current pandemic has impacted their day-to-day lives and households. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

Similar to young people around the globe, students at PCI Children’s Home in Mewat, Haryana, are unable to continue their studies during the COVID-19 pandemic. To help curb boredom and relieve stress, staff members held a drawing competition among the boys on messages related to social distancing, handwashing and other COVID-19 prevention practices. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

For almost a decade, PCI has been working to layer social mobilization for health and nutrition outcomes within what is now almost a million women’s self-help groups (SHGs) and related community institutions in Bihar, India. In the first weeks of the coronavirus crisis, SHG members helped to raise awareness about COVID-19 in their communities through rangoli art and other messaging that urged people to wash their hands and stay home. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

To keep in touch with patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to provide critical health information in spite of lockdown measures, PCI’s Casa Materna staff created a telemedicine program. Nurses call patients who don’t have access to health services nearby and answer any questions they might have about COVID-19 or other health issues. If needed, they also provide medical consultations over the phone and share important information about disease prevention, prenatal care, breastfeeding and nutrition. (Photo by Nery Sosa/PCI Guatemala)

PCI’s USDA-supported school feeding program, EDUCAMOS, is helping to promote reading at home during the COVID-19 pandemic through a free phone application called Bloom Reader. The app contains multiple stories in Spanish and Mayan languages. PCI staff help install Bloom Reader on the phones of Women Empowered (WE) group members and other local parents and teach them how to use the resource with their children at home. (Photo by Nery Sosa/PCI Guatemala)

In San Antonio, a neighborhood in the Mixco Municipality of Guatemala, one of our Women Empowered (WE) groups worked with the local community government committee to install a Grocery Collection Center. Their aim is to support at least 200 families who have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Nataly Larios/PCI Guatemala)

In El Dorado, a small coffee farming community in the mountains of Jinotega, Nicaragua, parents from the Community School Support Group worked with a local doctor to develop a COVID-19 prevention plan. With information and support provided by PCI/Nicaragua, students, teachers and parents learned about the importance of personal hygiene and handwashing as well as scheduling school cleaning days. (Photo by Fidel Ruiz/PCI Nicaragua)

Through ¡ÁNIMO!, an emergency food security project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, some of our Women Empowered (WE) groups in Guatemala learned how to produce oyster mushrooms. This activity has proven to be a valuable source of income and fresh, nutritious food for their community. (Photo by Gesler Castillo/PCI Guatemala)

In Nicaragua, with food commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Ministry of Education’s school nutrition program, 1,115 pre- and primary schools now have a three-month supply on hand to feed students. PCI provided all transportation and loading staff with health and safety training on COVID-19 as well as protective gear and handwashing stations. (Photo by PCI/Nicaragua Staff)

AfriScout, PCI’s mobile-app based service, has proven to be a useful platform for distributing important COVID-19 messaging among pastoralists and their families in Kenya and Tanzania. Alerts on how to identify symptoms and practice social distancing are some of the key messages being shared with and among more than 2,800 users. (Photo by PCI/Tanzania staff)

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, women and girls face a heightened risk of domestic violence and exploitation. In rural areas of Jharkand, India, PCI is supporting self-help group members to discuss these vulnerabilities with their daughters and neighbors to help prevent violence against women and girls during lockdown. (Photo by PCI/India staff)

Through ¡ÁNIMO!, an emergency food security project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, PCI Guatemala staff have been supporting local youth groups to produce face masks as a way to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and make an income during these difficult times. (Photo by Gesler Castillo/PCI Guatemala)

Groups participating in our Women Empowered (WE)-P.A.C.E. program in Guatemala’s Western Highlands were having difficulty obtaining face masks to protect themselves and their families. With support from our EDUCAMOS and ¡ÁNIMO! projects, PCI staff have been able to manage and coordinate the donation and delivery of masks to these women with the Municipal Women’s Directorates of the municipalities of Santa Cruz Barillas, Chiantla and Cuilco. (Photo by Nataly Larios/PCI Guatemala)

Our ¡ÁNIMO! project in Guatemala has been sharing key messages at the community level about preventing COVID-19, ensuring that more families stay safe during these uncertain times. Staff prioritize home visits with pregnant women and children who are underweight or with moderate or severe acute malnutrition. (Photo by Gesler Castillo/PCI Guatemala)