Drones from scraps: How a Malawian startup is transforming medical supply delivery

Team Rubicon, a non-profit organization of military veterans that provides disaster relief, has provided relief after flooding in Detroit, tornadoes in Oklahoma, a typhoon in the Philippines and an earthquake in Nepal, among dozens of other communities across the globe.

Citizen cartographers around the globe are tracing and checking roads, buildings, and open spaces to assist people on the ground. You can help.

Last year, Team Rubicon carried out 35 domestic operations and three international operations, with overlapping missions in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Barikiki, Kiribati, as well as an operation in Roseau, Dominica. The humanitarian organization has two goals: improving overseas disaster response and finding new ways to bring military veterans into humanitarian operations.

For one village in Nepal, there's a silver lining to the earthquake: A year later, a new and better health clinic is rising from the rubble of the old. And it includes a birthing center.

After record-breaking rainfall and flooding, the city of York was at a loss for relief and reconstruction ideas. They turned to the Dutch city of Nijmegen, which had experienced similar flooding and found a solution in building a relief channel.

In a lot of places, food is available and the market is working but people are too poor to buy it, so cash donations are more effective than food. Previously U.S. aid laws did not allow cash donations but a new proposal could change that.

In war zones, people have a difficult time finding clean water and safe areas to inhabit. Social media, smart phones, and technology applications are aiding in people’s survival. In Aleppo, Syria, the International Committee of the Red Cross posted a map on Facebook to show alternative sources of clean drinking water that reached approximately 140,000 people.

After typhoon Haiyan, the devastation to the Philippines was hard to locate and track. The Red Cross staffed volunteers to sort through crowd-sourced data to create maps. The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap software application has helped the Red Cross better organize search and rescue operations.

Whenever there’s a natural catastrophe, a team of “crisis mappers” activate around the world. These volunteers use crowdsourcing tools to turn satellite data into digital maps, which are then used to make decisions on the ground, enabling rescuers to deliver food, shelter, and supplies to areas that need them most.

Uganda's open policy allows refugees to start a new life – and even a new business. But not all of them thrive due to governmental restrictions and limited cash flow.