An Update From Wendy
Dear Friend,
Thank you for being part of this community. Your support reflects a belief that every person, no matter where they live, deserves the opportunity to live with dignity, health, and hope.
In this newsletter, you will meet women and girls like Daniela and Amara, whose lives have been shaped by challenges many of us can scarcely imagine. More importantly, you will see what becomes possible when someone chooses to stand alongside them.
Because of Canadians like you, real change is taking root.
In Sierra Leone, girls who might otherwise be pushed out of school are finding a way to continue their education. Families are beginning to have difficult but important conversations about health, safety, and the future of their daughters. Through the EmpowerHER Program, communities are beginning to gain the knowledge and support needed to challenge harmful norms about child marriage and girls’ education, and create new opportunities.
In Guatemala, faith leaders are using their voices to promote peace and respect within families, helping to break cycles of violence that have affected generations.
These changes do not happen overnight. They happen because people like you choose to invest in long-term, community-led solutions.
As Canadians, we understand the importance of equity, compassion, and working together to build a better future. Your generosity reflects these values in action, not only changing lives today, but helping create stronger, more resilient communities for years to come.
Thank you for standing with us, and with the communities we are honoured to serve.
With gratitude,
Wendy Fehr
Executive Director, CAUSE Canada
The Beginning of Ending Child Marriage
Amara* was just 12 years old and in Grade 6 when her life suddenly changed. On her way home from school in her rural community, she experienced a traumatic assault that left her isolated and afraid. A few weeks later, she discovered she was pregnant.
After her baby was born, Amara wanted to return to school. She shared her hopes with her uncle, but her family hesitated. They worried about her safety and about the stigma she might face as a young mother. In many communities, situations like Amara’s are often surrounded by silence and shame, making it even harder for girls to move forward.
Amara’s story is not unique.
In the communities where CAUSE Canada works in Sierra Leone, many girls face barriers that affect their health, education, and future opportunities. Baseline findings show that only 11 percent of women feel able to make independent decisions about key aspects of their lives. While some women participate in decisions about health care, far fewer feel they can make choices about their own relationships.
Access to care is also limited. Although many women understand the importance of seeking health services, less than half of those who need care are able to receive it. Barriers include cost, distance, social stigma, and a lack of available resources. As a result, many women and girls are left without the support they need.
Social expectations also play a powerful role. When girls experience violence or pregnancy at a young age, families feel pressure to arrange an early marriage as a way to protect their daughter’s future or reputation. In the communities where CAUSE Canada is working, only about one quarter of people currently support ending child marriage.
This is why EmpowerHER was launched.
The EmpowerHER Program aims to address not only the symptoms of these challenges but also their root causes: working with families, community leaders, and local health systems to increase knowledge, improve access to care, and support girls in continuing their education.
For Amara, this support made a meaningful difference.
Through conversations with CAUSE Sierra Leone staff and community members, her family began to see her situation in a new light, not as something to hide, but as an opportunity to support her future. With encouragement and guidance, Amara was able to return to school.
Today, she is both a student and a mother, with renewed hope for what lies ahead.
Stories like Amara’s are why EmpowerHER matters. Between 2025 and 2032, the program aims to reach 480 rural communities in Sierra Leone, helping to end child marriage and enabling thousands of girls to grow up with greater health, dignity, and opportunity.
It is only made possible by Canadians like you, in partnership with CAUSE Canada and Global Affairs Canada.
*Name has been changed
Mobilizing Faith Leaders to Build Healthier Families
In the highland communities of Guatemala, like many places, family violence has long been hidden behind cultural norms and silence. Violence against women not only harms dignity and safety, but also contributes to children being more likely to drop out of school and to decreases in household income.
Gender inequality has created a belief that violence in the home must simply be endured, especially when connected to alcohol use or ideas about male authority. In some cases, both men and women have come to see violence as acceptable under certain circumstances, allowing harmful patterns to continue from one generation to the next.
Today, that story is beginning to change. Through the work of CAUSE Canada and CAUSE Guatemala, faith leaders are coming together to reflect on the impact of violence in their communities and consider how they can use their influence to promote peace and respect within families.
In recent months, 26 faith leaders across eight communities have been participating in workshops exploring the roots of violence, including harmful ideas about masculinity and the misuse of alcohol. Together, these leaders have been discussing the effects of violence on women and children and the important role they can play as the most trusted voices in their communities.
Many leaders have responded with a strong commitment to action. They are speaking openly in churches and community gatherings about respect, healthy relationships, and the importance of caring for families with dignity and responsibility. They are also helping create safe spaces where families can begin honest conversations about violence and healing.
Change takes time, but signs of hope are emerging. Community members are beginning to recognize that violence in the home has been normalized and that it is possible to break this cycle for future generations.
By walking alongside families with compassion and leadership, faith leaders are helping build communities where women feel safe to participate fully, children can attend school safely, and families can live in peace.
Thank you for joining in this journey through your support.
A Meal That Means More
In the village of Sarakoh in northern Sierra Leone, school used to be difficult for many children. Some would arrive hungry. Others would not come at all.
For girls especially, this often meant falling behind. When families struggled, education was not always the priority, and girls were more likely to stay home, work on the farm or in the home and eventually leave school.
But something has begun to change.
Through CAUSE Canada’s Integrated School Feeding Program, meals are now prepared and served four times a week at school. In the first three months of this year, 885 children across four communities benefited from this community-reliant program. For these students, a simple meal of rice, beans, and vegetables is doing far more than filling an empty stomach. It is bringing them back to school.
Behind each meal is a group of committed women. The Mothers’ Club gathers regularly to plan, cook, and manage the program. Even after external support is reduced, these women continue to lead. They meet each month, solve problems together, and ensure that no child is left behind.
Their work is not easy. They farm, care for their families, and still give their time to cook for hundreds of children at the Sarakoh Primary School. But they do it because they believe in a better future, especially for their daughters.
One mother shared during a meeting that keeping girls in school is one of the most important ways to protect their future. When girls are fed, they attend more regularly. When they attend school, they are less likely to be married early.
The impact is spreading beyond the classroom. Fathers are beginning to help with cooking. Communities are contributing food instead of money so the program can continue. Local women’s groups are growing more food to supply the schools.
What started as a feeding program is becoming something much deeper. It is building a community that values education, shares responsibility, and collaboratively supports its children to eat. For many girls in Sarakoh, a school meal is no longer just food. It is a reason to stay in school and a step toward a different future.
And that is where real change begins.
The Integrated School Feeding Project, We Eat What We Plant, aims to work with six communities over a three-year period to help them establish a school feeding program that is community-led and community-reliant. Working with local female farming cooperatives, teaching climate-smart agricultural techniques, and using a whole community approach, these communities are feeding their children.
We Eat What We Plant is only made possible by Canadians like you, in partnership with CAUSE Canada, ECOWAS and AECID in the framework of ECOWAS PMAI-AO.
Daniela’s Story: A Dream Reclaimed
When Daniela* arrived in the community of Esperanza in Quimistán, Santa Bárbara, her life had been marked by hardship and instability. As a child, her family moved often, and as a result, she never had the chance to continue school. Daniela completed only first grade and never learned to read or write. Over time, this left her feeling limited, insecure, and without a sense of value.
Yet even through these challenges, Daniela held onto a simple but meaningful dream. Since she was a little girl, she had wanted to become a cook.
Life made that dream feel out of reach. After losing her belongings during Hurricanes Eta and Iota and facing ongoing struggles to care for her family, Daniela focused on survival. The thought of building a future through her own skills seemed impossible.
Everything began to change when CAUSE Honduras offered training opportunities for women in her community. The program welcomed women regardless of their education level or personal circumstances. At first, Daniela hesitated. She felt ashamed that she could not read or write, and she worried she would not succeed.
But she chose to try.
With each session, Daniela’s confidence began to grow. She discovered that she could learn, contribute, and succeed alongside others. The training gave her practical tools to start a small business, but more importantly, it gave her something she had not felt in a long time—belief in herself.
Today, Daniela is one of the most active participants in the group. She now speaks with hope about the future and has begun to dream again. Her goal is to open a small food stall where she can share her cooking and provide for her family.
Daniela often says she is grateful for this opportunity, not just because of the skills she has gained, but because she now sees herself differently. She believes she has something valuable to offer.
Her story is a powerful reminder that when women are given the chance to learn and grow, they can rebuild their confidence, provide for their families, and create new possibilities for the next generation.
*Name has been changed
Share Your Thoughts, Shape Our Future
At CAUSE Canada, we believe that no matter where someone lives, everyone deserves dignity and the opportunity to thrive. Because of your generosity, we are able to walk alongside individuals, families, and leaders in the hard-to-reach, rural communities of Guatemala, Honduras, and Sierra Leone.
Together, we are building new systems that help people to leave extreme poverty and empowering them to meet their health, education, and livelihood needs.
Lasting change starts from within, and we want to ensure that how we communicate always reflects the local transformation that matters most to you. We invite you to share your feedback through a brief, 5-minute supporter survey.
Your honest feedback will help us ensure our updates effectively provide the information you want to know. Thank you for walking alongside us in this shared work of lasting change.
To share your thoughts with us, visit the link below before June 30, 2026.