The difference a hot meal can make

With the support of a farm, a school can run a daily lunch program for students. School-day lunches are game changers for students and staff in impoverished communities where families face food insecurity. Whenever a school introduces daily meals there is a significant increase in enrollment, retention, and grades, and absenteeism and drop-out rates decrease …

Gifts of special money

It feels like it snuck up on us, but we have reached the middle of October already! It may feel too early to think about Christmas, but at Chalice, now is the time to do a little planning ahead. Sponsors inquire with us about sending a gift of ‘special money’ to their children for a …

Breaking new ground at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School has a glorious namesake, but this time last year, the school was anything but beautiful.  The walls were collapsing on rotten timber supports, exposing the students and staff to the elements year-round. They were cold, damp and muddy part of the year and sweltering and dusty the other parts. They …

Empowering women and families through Chalice family circles

“The skills training will impact positively on the life of many families at the site.”  These mothers are not just smiling because they’re bedecked with beads, but because they are modeling their popular new designs! Communities in Ghana have been greatly impacted by shutdowns during the pandemic which closed markets, impacting both incomes and access …

How Barikisu Went From Fighting Cancer To Studying Nursing

Barikisu is no stranger to being strong. As a cancer survivor who lost her father at a young age, resilience is all she knows.   She and her siblings were raised by her mother near our Wa site in Ghana. After her father passed away, she was blessed by the support of a wonderful Chalice …

Big Changes in Mombasa

The Sisters of St Joseph Mombasa run Chalice’s Mombasa sponsor site, working in the low-income neighborhoods of this coastal city in Kenya. They run three homes for children: the Grandsons of Abraham Rescue Centre, Bakitah Girls Rescue Centre, and the Shanzu Orphanage.   The Grandsons of Abraham Centre rescues, rehabilitates and educates boys who have lived in …

Sponsorship Makes Safina’s Dreams Come True

For Safina, going to school every day was far from the reality she grew up with.  Her mom was a single parent who struggled to provide four children with enough to eat, let alone enough money to pay school fees. Teachers, seeing she couldn’t pay, would send Safina home. She often missed school for weeks …

How Chalice Supporters Alleviated Drought in Kenya

In parts of Canada and the U.S., rainfall is so common, it’s almost a nuisance. We grumble as we walk home in the rain, or complain off-handedly to our colleagues about the commute to work.   It’s tempting to forget that in many parts of the world, rain isn’t a nuisance – it’s life.   Kenyans have …

How Child Sponsorship Formed a Bond that Spanned Oceans

When Trina met Vincent at the airport, she burst into tears.  It was an emotional reunion, fit for friends after years apart. And in a way, that was exactly their situation. Though they’d never met in person, Trina and Vincent had known each other for years.   She sponsored him through Chalice when he was …