Canadian Foodgrains Bank
Food vouchers renew hope in Colombia
Colombia has become home to over 2.9 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees who fled the ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis in their homeland. But life in Colombia is not easy as families face labour market discrimination, challenges in accessing health services, exploitation, and growing poverty. With many locals also living under the poverty line, food security has become an extreme issue. And over the course of the last year, the cost of food and rent have risen greatly, exacerbating already existing vulnerabilities. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports show that there are 6.8 million people in need of food security in Colombia.
Seven years ago, Amaloa Falcon and her family left Venezuela and moved to a small settlement in the city of Barranquilla in Atlántico, Colombia, which is home to many other migrant families. Amaloa lives with her husband, her daughter, and a foster child who has a disability. The Falcon family struggles to meet their basic needs on what they earn collecting recyclable waste.
With funding from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, World Renew has been working through one network peer, ZOA, to improve the immediate food security of the most vulnerable
local and migrant families in the communities of La Guajira and Atlántico through the provision of six monthly electronic food vouchers. Between 2020 and 2024, 27,842 participants have benefitted from this project—including Amaloa and her family.
Before they began receiving the food vouchers, the Falcons spent most of their income on food, but purchased cheap, low-nutrient products like sausages just to have something in their stomachs. They often could not afford to have three meals a day and relied on their neighbours for support.
With the food vouchers, Amaloa and her family have been able to focus their income on paying rent, covering the cost of medical appointments, and purchasing medicine for their foster child. Amaloa gives praise to God that with the food vouchers, she can now afford more nutritious foods, including meat, fruit, and vegetables, and is already noticing an improvement in her family’s health.
Thank you for your gifts that help support the work of World Renew, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, and our partners. Through your generosity, you extend Christ’s hope and love to families like Amaloa’s.
Photo credit: ZOA Colombia
Ending Hunger Around the World
Highlights of how your gifts are helping renew hope this year
Honduras
In Honduras, 2,425 families struggling with malnutrition received electronic vouchers to meet immediate food consumption needs.
Ukraine
In Ukraine, 1,202 families have benefitted from monthly emergency food supplies, hygiene baskets, and psycho-social support.
Gaza
Over 12,000 of the most vulnerable civilians impacted by the conflict in Gaza received six months of emergency food assistance.
Zambia
In Zambia, where communities have been experiencing six years of drought, over 8,700 people are receiving training in proper nutrition practices and conservation agriculture.
Tanzania
In Tanzania, over 20,000 people struggling with malnutrition are receiving training in proper nutrition practices.
“My dream of being self-reliant is coming true”
Nargis Akter lives with her husband and children in Gaokandia Union on the bank of the Somesshory river in Bangladesh. Nargis’s husband, a day labourer and sole breadwinner for the family, struggled to meet their basic needs. Adding to the family’s challenges was the loss of their land to river erosion—a problem that impacted many in their community. Nargis longed to help support her family. She tried raising chickens, but did not have the training and experience needed, and sadly, the chickens all died. Nargis was very disappointed and worried about how her family would recover from this loss.
In January 2024, Nargis had the opportunity to become a member of the Somesshory Self-Help Group that was established by World Renew’s local partner PARI, with funding from World Renew and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Through her membership in the group, Nargis learned about the importance of savings, financial management, and investing savings in various income-generating activities.
Nargis also participated in a two-day training session on chicken rearing, organized by PARI and facilitated by the Department of Livestock. She learned about chicken rearing best practices, including housing and food management, medicine, and vaccinations. Through the training, she realized her previous mistakes. After the training, she bought five chickens with support from PARI. Nargis’s hope to help her family journey to income stability was renewed.
Nargis has applied all her new-found chicken rearing knowledge and has already started to see results. Two of her chickens are laying eggs regularly. Nargis is meeting family nutrition with eggs from her chickens and is helping to support the family.
“My dream of being self-reliant is coming true,” says Nargis. “I thank PARI [and their partners] for giving me the opportunity to be a member of the self-help group and to attend training on chicken rearing.”
The transformative power of sharing Christ’s love
Stephano Openjtho, 71, lives in the village of Loc-Judongo, in Uganda. For much of his life, the father of nine children struggled with alcohol addiction. Because of his drinking, Stephano often found himself in fights and falling asleep in bars, which fractured many of his relationships, destabilized his finances, and disrupted his children’s education. His first two marriages ended in turmoil due to his destructive habits, and his current wife struggled with the impacts of his alcoholism on their family’s wellbeing.
In 2022, Stephano’s life took a new turn when he became part of a five-year project led by the Church of Uganda Nebbi Diocese, supported by World Renew and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The initiative aims to uplift 1,800 households though self-help groups, focusing on agricultural training via Farmer Field Schools, Village Savings and Loan activities, gender justice, and environmental conservation.
During the group formation process, one community leader, Anirwoth Betty Omika, recognized Stephano’s struggles with addiction. With her guidance and support, Stephano joined a self-help group, where he received training and participated in community dialogues. These sessions helped him confront his addiction and understand the impact of his drinking on his life and the lives of his loved ones. Determined to change, Stephano quit drinking, an extremely challenging but transformative decision.
Through self-help group activities, Stephano learned sustainable farming practices, which he put into practice to help improve his family’s food security. He also began saving money and prioritizing his children’s education, ensuring school fees were paid on time. Over time, because of his dedication to setting aside savings, he was able to purchase three cows, six goats, and fourteen chickens, further helping to improve his family’s income stability. And this project’s gender teachings helped to enrich his relationship with his wife, fostering better communication and joint decision-making.
Stephano’s transformation has inspired others in his village, with many abandoning their own addictions after witnessing his success. Today he dreams of building a permanent house, a symbol of his progress. His story is a testimony to the impact of the self-help group project. Stephano stands as a beacon of hope in his community, demonstrating that with determination, support, and the right guidance, even the most entrenched challenges can be overcome, leading to a brighter and more fulfilling life.
Thank you for extending Christ’s love through your gifts. Your generosity is helping to change stories of despair to ones of hope.
World Renew
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A Message of Hope
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17
I began 2025 transitioning into a new role at World Renew, that of Director of International Disaster Response. A new job, a new home, a new relationship—there is something about a fresh start that allows us to shift our minds into the future and to move forward with hope.
In my eleven years with World Renew, I have always been a part of a story of newness and hope. We greatly thank you for participating in World Renew’s programs around the world: your gifts give the vulnerable population the chance at a new start. From the knowledge they gain through training programs, to the way they can save for the future through a Village Savings and Loan Association, to the renewed energy delivered through food baskets in the aftermath of a disaster, your generosity is helping to extend God’s love and hope. Thank you.
I look forward to continuing this journey and sharing the stories of how, together, World Renew and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank are working, with your support, to renew hope!
Yours in Christ,
Matilda Okech Director, International Disaster Response
worldrenew.ca/food
@worldrenewcanada
/worldrenewcanada
