Stories

This year’s CSW68 stirred up a lot of conversation around mothers in public spaces and women’s rights to own land. Here are three key takeaways from our resident expert, Program Officer Jenny Gutzman.

Single parents struggle with mental health more than two-parent households. Community support and income solutions helped single mom Channoeurn overcome anxiety and stress and become a powerful child advocate.

By applying sustainable, climate-smart techniques like push-pull pest management, Betty increased her harvests, fed her children, and boosted family income.

Organic farming in Ethiopia rescues a failing family farm and feeds a community.

Immaculée is the mother in a female-headed household and a farmer. She provides for her four children through farming and livestock. This is her testimony.

By including women like Seng in opportunities to grow their knowledge, realize their goals, and raise their children, FH Cambodia is empowering them to help lift their communities out of poverty.

Fresh springs are a great source of clean water, but they must be protected from contamination. FH capped a spring in rural Ethiopia to help families get clean water and be free from waterborne diseases.

Taslima’s family couldn’t make ends meet in Bangladesh. Constant arguing between her and husband made their homelife toxic. Couples counseling, literacy classes, and savings opportunities turned their lives around!

By including women like Seng in opportunities to grow their knowledge, realize their goals, and raise their children, FH Cambodia is empowering them to help lift their communities out of poverty.

There is a pivotal point in a young person's life where receiving an encouraging word or a gift equipping you to pursue a dream changes the trajectory of their life. For Celine, it was a simple sewing machine from the Gift Guide that empowered her to start her own business.

Angella never expected to become a widow, divorcée, and single mom to five children and four grandchildren, all within a few years. Her husband died in 2006, leaving her to raise three children on her own. She remarried in an effort to secure financial stability for her children and two new step daughters, but the new marriage quickly ended, leaving her alone, again. She knows first-hand how mental health can affect every aspect of one’s life.

This year, the world approaches Lent—the six week season between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday—with a heightened sense of sorrow and fear. Our world is on fire—again. Instead of COVID-19, it’s war, inflation, mass hunger, unemployment, and political instability. If ever we needed to turn our eyes to Jesus and prepare our hearts to celebrate and affirm his resurrection power, it’s now! If ever we needed to long for his return, it’s today.

One day, Moriam was playing with her friends when her father called her to come and meet a new family that was visiting. Obediently, Moriam complied. Little did she know that the man she met that day would become her husband at the unimaginable age of just 14 years old.

Sarah teaches Grade 3 literacy in Bunashimolo, a small community located in Bukiende, Uganda. In addition, Sarah is a wife and mom with three kids of her own under the age of 10: Josephat, Betina, and little Blessing.

How are you doing—really doing?

Jean farms for a living, but it isn’t easy. The soil in the Rwandan community of Ruhindage is acidic and the hilly landscape causes crops to wash away when it rains, making farming an unpredictable (and often unproductive) livelihood. And does it ever rain! Often resulting in dangerous landslides. In May 2023, more than 20 families in Ruhindage were evacuated from their homes under the threat of flooding and landslides. “Fifty per cent of my crops were ruined by heavy rain [that year],” Jean explains. “The harvest was low.”

You've probably heard the phrase "It takes a village to raise a child," before. After all, it's well known that community support is crucial for raising a child! But what happens when those helping hands never arrive and, in their place, a new mother is shamed by her community?