2022/2023 Annual Impact Report - Canada and International

Before the escalation of the war in Ukraine, Nadiya O.* and her husband lived near the city of Uman. Together they grew a vegetable garden and kept bees, selling their honey to make some extra cash. But shortly after the conflict worsened, her husband died from a heart attack.

Then Russian military bombing destroyed their home, turning to ash most of the beehives they had once tended together. In Ukrainian, the name Nadiya means hope, but her situation left little reason to feel hopeful. However, your caring gifts have provided an essential lifeline to Nadiya and thousands of Ukrainians like her.

MCC sent five containers full of canned meat, comforters and other relief items to Uman and other nearby cities this year, focused on reaching
the most vulnerable. Partners also distributed supplies to help people survive the cold winter with limited heating or electricity. One small wood stove costs $54 and provides a person or family a reliable way to cook their own food.

"We gave to people whose homes were destroyed, people who lost their jobs, the elderly people with small pension benefits and people living with disabilities,” says Nadiya T.*, program coordinator for MCC in Ukraine.

Because of your generous and prayerful contribution, Ukrainians with no other support are getting their basic needs met.

Above photo caption: "A woman* in a village recovered from Russian military control in Ukraine's Kherson region received a small wood stove from MCC partner Uman Help Center. (Photo courtesy of Uman Help Center) 

*Names are shortened or omitted for security reasons.

When Rath Morn* (pictured above) was growing up in Sampor, Cambodia, his family could count on reliable dry and wet seasons to grow their crops. For generations, that reliability meant bountiful crops and prosperous farmers.

But as our climate has continued to change, so have the realities of farming in Cambodia. Scorching temperatures cause essential water sources to dry out, for both crops and animals. The once-consistent wet seasons now bring hard-driving rain that flattens or drowns crops.

But your donations are supporting Morn in adapting to the changing realities he’s facing.

For $482, MCC partner Organization to Develop Our Villages (ODOV) built a fishpond and filled it with fish. For $67, they built a chicken coop and stocked it with hens and a rooster. Thanks to these resources and the agricultural training ODOV provides, with funding through MCC’s account at Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Morn’s family now earns around $63 per month.

He sees the difference these changes are making in his neighbours: “People are getting better, and I can see the improvements in their families. In each family, people do not do anything that would cause harm to others. Instead, they share with each other.”

*In Cambodia, names are written with the surname appearing first, followed by the given name.

On a good morning, Chanelle Kingenzi (pictured above) would need an hour to fetch water from the spring nearest to her family’s home in Kanzombi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). That water would be enough for her, her three siblings and mother to bathe and cook breakfast before school started.

On bad mornings, fighting in line could delay her three or four hours, making her miss part of the school day. Chanelle’s family was displaced by violence elsewhere in DR Congo, so sometimes the others in line would treat her poorly. More than once, she was threatened or hurt, or went home with no water. But your generosity has changed all of that for Chanelle.

With your support, a local MCC partner drilled a series of deep borehole wells in Kanzombi and other communities nearby. For around $32,000, the well, storage tank and water taps provide fresh, clean water to thousands, who no longer must risk their safety for drinking water.

Now instead of a long and unsafe journey, Chanelle can take a short walk to the well and fill her containers with almost no effort. No longer does she have to risk missing school or her own safety just to have water to drink.

About one in 10 children born in South Sudan don’t survive to see their fifth birthday. This heartbreaking statistic is caused by many factors, including new mothers simply not having access to health care.

But thanks to your compassionate support, an MCC partner in South Sudan is providing health care to many who would otherwise go without.

The Mary Ward Primary Health Care Centre is part of the Loreto Rumbek School in South Sudan. In addition to providing a fully staffed pharmacy, recovery unit, examination rooms and mental and sexual health services, each week they host a child vaccination clinic. Their program gets newborns on a five-month vaccine series for diseases including polio, hepatitis B, tuberculosis and many others.

As an incentive to stick to the entire program, the clinic offers an MCC infant care kit to mothers whose children complete the entire slate of immunizations. The clinic provides around 3,000 vaccinations each year, and each child’s continued health creates a testimony that combats vaccine skepticism in South Sudan, says clinic nurse Mary Alual.

"It’s not only the vaccines, but everything they’re learning about health here," Mary says. "Handwashing, the connection between child and mother health, many things."

Above photo caption: Cholhok Maluk (right)and Teresa Ayen (middle) look through an infant care kit during an infant immunization session at the Mary Ward Primary Health Care Centre in Rumbek, South Sudan. (David Lomuria/MCC/Fairpicture) 

There are many reasons why someone might migrate. It could be to find new work, join family or study. It might be to flee violence or disaster. Whatever the cause, there are more people on the move today than ever before, and many are facing immense hardship and danger trying to reach their destination. 

That’s why your generous support for MCC partners like Casa del Migrante is so important.

In Guatemala City, Casa del Migrante is a place of shelter and care for people on the move through this part of Central America. Migrants can access legal advice, food and medicine, medical and dental care, spiritual support and a variety of other help before they continue their journey.

Carlos López, the director of Casa del Migrante, says that while they cannot promise people safety on their journey, they try to provide everything they can when migrants come through their doors.

They offer “security, trust and safeguarding to know that they are not at risk or in danger inside the shelter’s facilities,” says Carlos. “But above all, [we offer] empathy on the part of the staff.”

Lidia Chambi (pictured above) is a farmer in Chiro Kasa, Bolivia. In addition to tending her own crops, she helps other farmers in her community succeed in the unforgiving environment high up in the mountains.

Climate change is causing water to become scarce; this leads to conflict between neighbours as everyone tries to get enough. And when new weather patterns cause harsh rains to wash away crops, families are split apart as some migrate to larger cities for paying work. But your loving generosity is enabling just action to address these issues.

Working with MCC partner PRODII (Interdisciplinary Comprehensive Development Program), Lidia and farmers like her are combatting the injustice caused by climate change. By helping farmers learn new techniques to adapt to the changing climate (and sometimes even reviving ancestral agricultural techniques), they’re growing heartier crops and reducing the need to migrate. And that creates more peaceful communities.

At the same time, MCC advocates to the government in Canada for policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and that provide more support for communities like Lidia’s.

To read more stories about MCC and our partners responding to climate change injustice and to take positive action, visit www.ClimateActionForPeace.com.

Opi Sarker always knew she wanted to help people. By the time she finished high school, she had set her sights on becoming a nurse.

“I love to serve people, and nursing as a profession seemed like a way I could serve people in my job,” says Opi, who is pictured above right, with classmates Bonnya Sarker (middle) and Pinky Das (left).

Her father is a fisherman, while her mother stays at home caring for Opi’s older sister, who lives with an intellectual disability. So, when Opi was accepted into the nursing program at a highly reputed school 400 kilometres away, she was thrilled. But on the heels of that excitement came the dread of wondering of how she was going to pay for this chance to follow her dream.

And that’s where you stepped in. Your generosity is helping students like Opi get the education they deserve.

Through an MCC partner in Bangladesh, Opi, and other students like her, receive just over $200 per year toward their education. While it may not sound like a lot of money, it’s an amount that she says makes a significant difference. “For people from families like mine, the amount that we’re getting from MCC — that’s a big support for us: it’s really helpful,” says Opi.

Students at Rumbek Comboni Primary School in South Sudan, have limited access to basic school supplies. Even if they were able to find all the items in a school kit at the local market, it could easily cost more than an entire month’s wages — around 5,000 South Sudanese pounds. Those same items can be purchased in Canada for $8.50.

Mary Aniong Achien, 16 and pictured second from left above, is in her final year of primary school and wants to be a doctor when she graduates. She says school kits have made a huge difference for her as a student. “How do you take notes without notebooks? I did not understand well in class before I had them, but now I can take notes in all my classes,” says Mary. “And the bag makes everything easy to carry.”

She also noted that she’s very aware of how difficult it would be for her parents to buy her supplies like these. “With the school kit, my parents can buy food instead of books,” she says.

Ann J.* (pictured above) was recovering from a lengthy health care journey with two children at home and no one to help co-parent them — she was feeling depressed. But when she heard about Reclaiming Beauty, a joint program between MCC Thrift and Walking with People in Poverty in Ontario, she saw a chance to reclaim some parts of her own life.

Across Canada and the U.S., MCC Thrift shops reduce waste by giving used items new life, and they also provide space for community connections. The women taking part in Reclaiming Beauty are empowered to upcycle donated thrift items into cherished treasures. Through the process of re-creation,
participants reflect on their own journey and goals. “I needed to do something gratifying and beautiful that I enjoy, that I could sit and see and spend time with,” says Ann.

*Last name withheld for privacy

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José David Dávila (pictured above) remembers the name Mennonite Central Committee from the cans of meat his family received when he was a young boy living in Managua, Nicaragua. So, when he grew up and was seeking direction for his life, he turned to MCC, knowing MCC’s commitment to peace through all its programs.

In 2016, he served for a year with MCC’s Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network (YAMEN) in El Salvador. That experience gave José David a desire for more active service: in 2021, after a few years of school, he started his term with MCC’s Seed program in Colombia, then finished his second year in Guatemala.

He says both programs gave him opportunities to see his ideas of faith translated to action, helping real people in the real world. “If you want to serve God, you need to get out of your comfort zone. These programs are very transformative because you’re exposed to situations that cause you to unlearn and learn, [to discover] the many forms of God’s grace that are moving in the whole world.”