Punta Cometa Oaxaca Mexico

Itay Refaely, who is from Israel, and Van Dien, from Vietnam, enjoy the sunrise in Punta Cometa, a popular tourist spot in Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, visitors from all over the world continue to come to this community ecological reserve situated on Mexico’s outermost point in the Pacific Ocean to replenish their energy and enjoy the scenery.

Harare, Zimbabwe

Melinda Hungwa steams her throat and nose, which she believes will prevent the coronavirus, at her home in Harare, Zimbabwe. She puts vapor rub, ginger and garlic in hot water and covers her head with a blanket, breathing in the steam. Since Zimbabwe has recorded an increased number of coronavirus cases and deaths, people have attempted various ways to protect themselves, including steaming.

Kalviyankadu Sri Lanka

From left, Iyaththurai Sajeeban, 18; Jeral Nishanthan Ninujan, 18; and Selvaratnam Puvikaran, 27, decorate pots in Kalviyankadu, a village in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. The pots are for Thai Pongal, a Hindu harvest festival celebrated in January.

Oyunsuvd Enkhbold, front, and Mishigsuren Namjil look through binoculars while on a date to a 10-meter-high observation tower in the forest known locally as Tujiin Nars, in Mongolia’s Selenge province. From 1986 to 2002, large fires destroyed 70% of the pine forest. After rehabilitation projects, 70,805 hectares (273 square miles) of the forest were restored. It’s now a national park.

Adampan, Mannar, Sri Lanka

Nasurulla Mohmed Nafras repairs a phone at his shop in Adampan, a city in Sri Lanka’s Mannar district.

San Antonino Castillo Velasco, Oaxaca, Mexico

José Antonio García works on a clay model at his family’s workshop in San Antonino Castillo Velasco, Oaxaca, Mexico. García developed glaucoma 18 years ago, which caused him to go blind. He asked his wife, Reina Mendoza Sánchez, to help him continue his work. Now, García shapes the pieces, and Mendoza adds the details.

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico

Alberto López Santiz sells balloons and pinwheels in Plaza de la Paz in downtown San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico.

Kiwanga, Mokono, Uganda

Daniel Enebeli, founder and CEO of biotech startup Protein Kapital, explains how he uses black soldier flies to convert food waste into high-value protein for livestock and fish foods in Kiwanga, a town in Uganda’s Mukono district.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Odgerel Bayasgalan paints his graduate thesis painting, a self-portrait titled, “My Story,” in his home in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Odgerel, 20, is in his last year in the painting program at the School of Fine Arts and Design at the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture.

Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca, Mexico

Tamara Rivas uses a process called randa to make a Tlacolula garment at her home in Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca. There are only a few craftspeople left who practice the difficult randa process. Local women wear these traditional garments to an annual community celebration, and they’re often passed down from mother to daughter.

Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

Martha Cuevas performs traditional songs with mariachi group Mariachi Alma Ranchera during a Sunday concert in the central courtyard of Casa de la Cultura José Ángel Palou Pérez, in the city of Puebla, Mexico. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, members of the group had to remain a safe distance apart from one another.

Erdenet, Orkhon Province, Mongolia

Terbish Munkhbayasgalan, left, a 12th grade student, and Gantulga Odonbyamba, in 10th grade, write in traditional Mongolian script during “Book Festival,” an event to encourage preservation of the script and traditional culture, in Erdenet, a city in Mongolia’s Orkhon province. Terbish and Gantulga both take an extracurricular class at school to practice this writing system.

Mutare, Zimbabwe

Clement Madi Makonde adds some finishing touches to one of the wood carvings he made while at the Mutare Farm Prison in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Makonde, who was imprisoned in 2014, says he spends most of his time making his art, which includes door mats, handbags, hats and wooden cooking utensils.

San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca, Mexico

Carlo Magno sculpts with clay collected from a nearby hill in San Bartolo Coyotepec, a town in Oaxaca, Mexico. After molding, the clay goes through a special firing process that gives local ceramics a distinctive black color.

Erdenet, Orkhon Province, Mongolia

Tuvshinjargal Batsukh, an actress at the Children and Youth Theater in Orkhon province, reads books to children during a book festival held at Amar Square, in Erdenet, Mongolia. Tuvshinjargal participated to encourage parents to read to their children.

Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

Axel Cervantes, 11, prepares his favorite meal – sausages with potatoes, tomatoes and chipotle peppers – at his home in Puebla, Mexico. Axel learned to cook during the pandemic, when his mother had to take an afternoon shift at her job. “I used to be scared to light the stove, and I didn’t know how to use the blender,” he says. “Now I know how to make the meals I like, and I think they turn out really well.”

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

To promote traditional Mongolian script through art, Sergelen Bayasgalan, left, and Togtuun Erdenebileg paint a poem in the script along with a portrait of the author, Rinchen Byambyn, a founder of modern Mongolian literature, on a wall in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The poem reads, “Although there are many beautiful places in this colorful universe / There is no place more beautiful than my native land / Although every language is great to study virtue / There is no greater language than our mother tongue.”

Mexico City, Mexico

Dentists Jesús Godínez, left, and Mónica García inspect the teeth of Mateo Gómez, 7, at Kids Dental, a dentist’s office in Azcapotzalco, Mexico City. Mateo’s mother brought him in because of intense pain in one of his molars. Mateo was nervous about the visit, so the dentists put on a movie and tried to make him feel comfortable.

Rusike, Zimbabwe

Dorothy Chishiri cuts dried branches from the shrubs around her home in Rusike, a rural area east of Harare, Zimbabwe. Chishiri says firewood is scarce in this part of the village and at times she has had to walk more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) in search of firewood.

Tecámac, Mexico

Oscar Espinoza tends to products at his antique shop, El Precio del Tiempo, one of the few antique stores in Tecámac, in the state of Mexico. “This sells really well in Coyoacán, San Ángel, La Roma (Mexico City), but it’s difficult here, especially right now,” Espinoza says. “People prefer to spend their money on food and health, not on things like this.”

Khuvsgul, Mongolia

Ganbold Lkhamaa compresses cans and plastic bags and containers with a machine at his home in Mongolia’s Khuvsgul province. Since there isn’t a location to recycle waste in Khuvsgul, for the past 10 years Ganbold has bought recyclable waste to compress and transport to a recycling center in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city.

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Ramón Torres makes shoes at his shop in downtown Guadalajara. Torres, 75, has worked in shoemaking since he was 8 years old. He has noticed that local shoe quality has declined over the years with the introduction of synthetic materials – although, he notes, prices have remained about the same.

Kampala, Uganda

Kamushwa Sunday, left, and Rubandamayonza Daniel cast a net into Lake Victoria, in Kampala, Uganda, where they hope to catch fish overnight.

Chihuahua, Mexico

The plaza outside the Cathedral of Chihuahua in Chihuahua, Mexico, usually bustles with older adults who pass time on the benches and families who come to shop at the mobile vendors. The plaza has been closed since November due to the spread of the coronavirus.