Stories

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.

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?

Now we are in the Advent season!

Right now, there are 3.5 billion people still living without safe toilets. Because of a lack of sanitation, diseases spread among their families and communities, killing 1,000 children under the age of five every single day. This global situation poses a threat to half the world’s population and puts women, girls, and vulnerable groups at risk of harm.

On World Children’s Day, we’re highlighting the need to start strong!

It all started with a sweet idea.

When María’s husband unexpectedly passed away, she and her daughters, Yamilin (6) and Ana (3), moved back in with her aging mother and two sisters.

Cham comes from a family that didn’t know the value of formal education. Instead of attending school, they worked hard at their farming and did their best to survive. But Cham is determined that her family will be different

It’s no surprise that Mandela and his peers felt like second-class citizens in their homeland. As members of the Indigenous Batwa Peoples in Burundi, they had faced discrimination from before they were even born.

I think we can all agree that water is essential to life on Earth.

When Deborah was just 12 years old, she was kidnapped and held captive with a group of young girls for two months. By the time she escaped and returned home, the damage was done. Her harrowing ordeal haunted her into her teens and adulthood. Fearing social stigma, she told no one the truth about what had happened, except for her mother and sister. She had been a victim of human trafficking, but she didn’t feel like a survivor. She felt restless, fearful, and depressed. She isolated herself from friends and community. She couldn’t work—she could barely brush her own hair.

After her husband died, Rachel wasn’t able to feed her four children on her own, much less pay school fees. The yields from their 10 acre farm were so low.