What if you gave a teenage girl work skills for life – empowering her to finish her education instead of becoming a young bride. What if you were the reason, she believed she could do more with her life?
Mwila was only 19 years old when she decided that there was little to hope for her future. The COVID-19 pandemic had pushed her family even deeper into poverty and students like her out of school, and Mwila could see only one path left to follow.
“I was planning on getting married because I did not see any future for me, even if I went back to school, because I did not know where funds to pay for [college] would come from,” says Mwila. “I thought marrying would be easier.”