James Buck

I met this mother # in an IDP camp outside Addis Ababa. She had been displaced from her farm by the fighting spilling over from Tigray. They tried to remain behind for the harvest, but waited too long until the fighting was upon them and they had to flee with nothing. They camped out in the bush for a week and then made it to the camp. She came into the @projecthopeorg medical tent seeking help for depression and menstrual issues. The clinicians were able to help her with her physical ailments, but have no mental health medications. Luckily, Project HOPE staff and Ethiopia are working to raise mental health awareness, and hopefully begin to provide some medications along with partner @ihp_uk . Mental health matters so much in these conflict situations. 🖤🇪🇹 #mentalhealthmatters #mentalhealthawareness #ethiopia #humanitarian #ngo

I won’t lie, I’m struggling tonight. I spent a week covering the lives of #homeless people who are being evicted by the city of #BTV from the encampment they built. I learned so much, they are so much like me, I am so much like them. As a journalist with #PTSD and a person in #recovery, telling these stories is incredibly important and incredibly difficult. A huge heartfelt gratitude to @mtnworkshops & @kathleenflynn for coaching me through this story, to Noah for letting me work with him, and to Leo the dog who made everything better. - Noah's parents dropped him off at a shelter on his 18th birthday. He rebuilt his life as a successful tradesman. But a bad breakup tore him up, and he ended up on Sears Lane. Noah built a home and workshop for himself at the encampment. He salvaged tools and building materials from dumpsters and he builds sheds and trailers and  works on cars. Noah broke his hand badly while working on one of his projects but he can't afford the time to get it taken care of because of the tight deadline to move out. He is a creative genius, rebuilding cars, repurposing scrap metal and building projects. But to get the free resources he needs to live from dumpsters – materials that are literally trash to other people – he faces the threat of arrest every night. Various local activist groups try to come to the residents’ aid with bring food and other supplies, which can be a great help, but also stressful. He stays up late and scopes out dumpsters where he can find materials he can use, but he has to be careful not to be caught. Sometimes he says the owners set deterrents for him, like covering the materials in urine, to make it harder for him.  “Leo saved my life,” Noah said. His 90-lb dog is a happy goofball who brings calm and levity to everyone in the camp. Media swoop into the camp intermittently. It's like living in a fishbowl, a neighborhood that's constantly under scrutiny with people coming in to photograph only the most challenging moments. For Noah, the pressure of trying to build a family and make a living while being hunted by the city under a tight deadline to move his vast workspace is enormous. "I'm fucked!" He said.

After recovering from Covid with donated oxygen equipment, Shobha, 52, hand-washes masks at the lake, and returns to her favorite activity - cooking delicious meals for guests. @projecthopeorg made it possible for her to get 10 days of oxygen equipment for free, whereas the private hospital she went to cost her more than half a year’s wages for two days of oxygen. #indiafightscorona

That’s a wrap on #Indonesia! Inspiring stories i’ve midwives, mothers, and teen health heroes to come!! @projecthopeorg @risefoundation.id

Men, we can do better. USA men’s hockey: just say you’re sorry. Story: https://bit.ly/4rI9MYg

Photos for @csmonitor article on Haiti, looking at the long-term effects of foreign aid, gangs, earthquake recovery and rebuilding civil society. I’ve been to Haiti four times now, working in Les Cayes, watching this beautiful area struggle to rebuild. Still, there are resilient stories everywhere, like Kathely and Guervance, above - she and her kids moved in with him his tiny home in an informal slum after she lost her house in the earthquake. Now they’re like family, he said! People displaced by the earthquake and by gang violence are doubling up and doing their best to survive.

Watch out for bugs using the wrong bug restroom!! 😜 Just being silly - it’s OK to “bug” me - there are no stupid questions! What kind of transformations have you undergone in your life? #transgender #trans

Happy #WorldAIDSday! I’ve met some of the most incredible community health workers and individuals advocating for HIV health around the world with @projecthopeorg . In Namibia, Ethiopia and Malawi with a free testing, community education and advocacy, breaking stigmas and people learning to manage their HIV and live full lives with medication and education. PEPFAR and USAID funded incredible work uplifting the lives of so many wonderful people I met. Wishing them all well on this World AIDS Day, and grateful for all the humanitarian workers and programs can make these programs possible!

Guess what: you get gender-affirming care too. You have undoubtedly transitioned. WTF? #transgender #transvisibility

Haiti, 2024: gangs terrorizing neighborhoods and burning homes forced people from their homes outside Port-au-Prince, who fled to neighboring areas living in poor conditions in the jungle and abandoned buildings in makeshift displacement camps.

“No Kings” protests in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, June 14, 2025. Contact me for photo use / shoots. #nokings #ice #losangeles

I don’t want to talk about Transgender Day of Visibility! But — there’s a lesson here in radical love. Both/and. Burlington UU talk, 2025 #tdov #transgender