Adnan el Farmali is 18 years old and lives in Akkar, North Lebanon with his parents and six siblings. But it’s not really home.

Adnan and his family fled their home in Homs, Syria after Adnan was shot in the back by a sniper while crossing the town bridge to go buy bread for his family. The bullet entered his spine and left him paralyzed.

Champa Devi owns a chai shop on a thoroughfare just outside of Patna, the capital and largest city in the Indian state of Bihar. Trucks, cars, auto rickshaws, motorcycles, and a host of foot traffic pass by in droves. It is rush hour, her busiest time of day. She smiles warmly, conscious of her foreign visitors and the photographer’s camera, which follows her as she moves swiftly along a rough-hewn wooden counter, serving up steaming glasses of tea from a blackened pot. Customers sit along the counter and on benches behind her, their postures nonchalant but eyes intently watching.

Laxmi Kisku, a Heifer India project participant and member of a Heifer self-help group recently experienced the value of leading by example. On a trip to Chak village to help form and mentor a new self-help group, she happened to meet a pigeon vendor. She was intrigued; she had never heard of pigeon farming for profit. Laxmi learned that this low-cost business can be started with a pair of birds and a simple birdhouse. The vendor explained that pigeons are nomadic, but, once they have an established shelter, the flock will start to grow.

Sami doesn’t want to be forgotten.

As a teenager growing up in Syria, 15-year-old Sami worked every day to achieve his goal of becoming a doctor. He was a good student, pushed hard by his dad to study constantly. But when war broke out, Sami’s dream ended in the flash of a bomb. With his school flattened and his home destroyed, Sami’s family had no choice but to flee their home in Aleppo.

Now living as a refugee in Turkey, Sami is no longer planning for a future—he’s worried about losing the chance.