Good Neighbours Canada’s Monitoring Visit to Rural El Salvador
One of our most well-loved causes at Good Neighbours Canada (GNCA) is our Better Life for Girls program, which works to reduce gender inequality by empowering women and girls with skills and a stable environment to support their unique needs.
Past Work with Better Life for Girls
Since 2023, our partners at Good Neighbors El Salvador (GNESV) have been running ‘Girls Empowerment Clubs’ for young girls aged 10-18, funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) grant from the Canadian Embassy in El Salvador. These girls clubs focus on girls in rural regions where gender norms are particularly strong and girls’ education is often not given much value within the family. They not only support girls with their education – teaching hard skills like financial literacy and entrepreneurship, and soft skills like self-efficacy and assertive communication – they also work with parents to support them to understand the importance of girls’ education and independence.
Last month, GNCA Executive Director Hyang Cho and Project Manager Rachel Morrison visited our Salvadorian colleagues for a monitoring trip to see the girls clubs and witness the work of GN El Salvador in action.
"I hadn’t previously understood the value of the program... However, after seeing how much the confidence and self-expression abilities the girls have developed, I have realized how transformative this support is for young girls at my school."
In total, GN El Salvador works with 29 schools in the Ahuachapán region; 14 in Ahuachapán central and 15 in Tacuba. The GNCA team visited a total of six schools throughout the region.
Two schools had received CFLI funding throughout 2023. At these schools, renovations had been made to the washroom facilities to ensure they had running water for proper sanitation and a handwashing station, classrooms had been equipped with computers, and signage and murals had been installed with inspiring affirmations for the children to recognize and remember. Impressively to our management team, the girls were confident and eager to introduce themselves to Hyang and Rachel, and shared feedback of how they have loved the clubs and the dreams they now had for their future – becoming doctors, teachers, soldiers or entrepreneurs.
Current Programs in 2024
The remaining four schools are running CFLI-funded girls clubs throughout 2024. GNCA members supported the distribution of dignity kits to girls in each of these schools, an important element of club programming which gives the girls access to menstrual supplies and personal hygiene items like shampoo and body lotion; things which some of the girls had never owned before.
Girls receiving their dignity kits.
School principals expressed their support for the program and many shared specific examples of the changes they have seen in the children they work with. One male principal admitted, “I hadn’t previously understood the value of the program, and had felt the same as several parents in thinking that the girls’ clubs weren’t really necessary. However, after seeing how much the confidence and self-expression abilities the girls have developed, I have realized how transformative this support is for young girls at my school. Thank you so much, Good Neighbours, for implementing these wonderful clubs.”
Additional visits were taken to some of the ‘special case’ sponsored children; families with very strong additional needs who live in extreme poverty, giving the team a chance to see the realities of life in rural El Salvador. GNESV actively intervenes by regularly visiting these families, providing much-needed additional support, and managing each case to ensure the children’s well-being and ongoing progress.
We are looking forward to continuing to support the amazing work of GNESV in protecting the rights of girls, children and families in need. GNCA wishes to thank the Canadian Embassy in El Salvador for their recognition of the value of this project and their commitment to supporting initiatives which work towards gender equality.
