Fatima didn’t have a chance.

Instead of learning how to read and write as a child, she fetched water and herded livestock. At the age of 15, her father forced her to marry. Today, she is the mother of eight children.

Although Fatima and her family struggle to make ends meet, she didn’t see the value of sending her eldest daughter to school. “I told myself that she will get married like me and she does not need education,” Fatima said.

Fatima’s daughter faced the same grim future as herself — forced to live a life that wasn’t on her own terms. When a girl marries young, she usually drops out of school to start a family, but faces a greater chance of dying in childbirth. She’s also less likely to earn enough to support herself and her family and keep them healthy. One generation follows the next, locked in a vicious cycle of poverty.

You can help break this cycle. By making a tax-deductible gift today, you’ll help empower women and girls in the world’s poorest countries to access the education and resources they need to lift themselves and their families out of poverty for good.

Fatima is on her way. She joined a CARE-sponsored women’s group and learned to read and write. A whole new world opened before her eyes, and Fatima realized she had the power to change the course of her daughter’s future. With a basic education, her daughter could chart her own path. Fatima’s daughter is in school today — and she’s learning leadership skills with CARE that will serve her for her entire life.

When you invest in empowering poor women and girls like Fatima and her daughter, they can create a promising future for themselves, their families and their whole communities! Fatima took the first step. Now it’s your turn.

We’ve set an ambitious goal of raising $3 million online between now and December 31, and we invite you to give to CARE today to help us reach it.

Here are examples of how far a gift to CARE can go overseas:

• $25 can provide a village savings and loan group with start-up materials to help put women and families on the path to financial empowerment
• $49 can send a girl to school for a year
• $62 can train a community health worker to provide care and hospital referrals to expectant mothers

As you can see, with the support of people like you, CARE can reach thousands of girls and women. Please give today so that CARE can continue helping women like Fatima who are creating a brighter future for themselves, their families and their communities.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH
President and CEO, CARE