‘I just want to say thank you’: Carmen & Elizabeth’s Story

“My day starts when the garbage trucks come to deposit the garbage,” Elizabeth said. Each morning, Elizabeth collects plastic to resell. “The most I make in a day is $5,” she said.

She works tirelessly to provide for her 5-year-old daughter, Carmen. Since her father was put in prison for gang activity, Carmen and Elizabeth have only each other. But, thanks to Convoy of Hope’s Children’s Feeding program in El Salvador, Elizabeth no longer worries about where her daughter will receive nutritious meals.

“She only has me,” Elizabeth said. “And I look for the strength to continue.”

The pandemic only made matters worse for Carmen and Elizabeth. Despite the effort it took to provide for Carmen by herself, opportunities for Elizabeth to make money became more scarce. Salvadorians turned to the trash heaps to search for a way to make enough to get by. In a cruel paradox, the more difficult it became to find stable work, the less money Elizabeth could make scouring for plastic.

Still, Elizabeth kept her focus on Carmen’s future. She knew that, someday, somehow, she would find a way to make a better life for her daughter.

“I would tell people to be strong,” Elizabeth said. “It’s not easy to be a mom and try to support your children. It feels like a steep hill. But despite the difficulty of the way, there is an end. And I know mine will be better: to be able to give her a better future.”

When Carmen first joined the Children’s Feeding program, she was undernourished, unhealthy, and lacked the energy she needed to run and play with the other children. But thanks to strategic school-feeding, vitamins, supplements, and personal care, things are different now.

“She feels more energetic and happy now,” said Elizabeth. “And she can run faster.”

Carmen now looks forward to the time she spends with others in the Children’s Feeding program. She colors, sings, makes friends, and each day she takes a step toward a more hopeful future.

“I know that she is safe there and they love her,” Elizabeth said. “She plays with other children, she seems happier, and I know that, thanks to Convoy of Hope, she gets nutritious food there.”

Convoy also sends groceries home with Carmen so that she can share the nutritious food she receives with her mom.

Thanks to your support, Carmen, Elizabeth, and more than 387,000 children around the world receive hope in the form of nutritious meals and valuable opportunities to create a brighter future.

“I just want to say thank you,” Elizabeth said.

To learn more about Convoy of Hope’s Children’s Feeding program, click here.