Choose to Challenge
On International Women’s Day, we are celebrating two very special women who both Choose to Challenge. Though their stories have very different beginnings, there are huge parallels in their determination, positivity, motivation and care for others. Read on if you’re in need of a little inspiration today!
1) Brenda - Advocate of the High Court of Kenya; Nairobi
Brenda grew up in Thika, Kenya, and like other children, she would wake up daily and go to school to, as her mother would put it, search for a better future. She tell us:
“My young brain could not at the time, fully comprehend what that really meant, but I knew it was something good, if nothing else it meant getting something better than what my mother had or could offer me. Slogans like education is the backbone of the society or education is the key to a better tomorrow were repeated over and over again.
We all had a thirst and a desire to learn, to grow, to be something, to have better. All of us from diverse backgrounds bound together by the dream of a better life.”
In the mid-2000s, Brenda was a student at St Patrick’s Primary School which drew most of its student population from slums and low income housing projects. In a bid to improve school attendance, St Patrick’s was assisted by African Children’s Fund in its implementation of a school Porridge Club. A project Brenda credits with changing her life.
“Years later, I still remember the anticipation for the cup of porridge, the joy of drinking, hot and steamy from the pot, the stories we told and fun games we played while enjoying the porridge and how it played a part in helping us forget our worries, focus on school and get an education.”
Brenda went on to study law and is now an Advocate at the High Court of Kenya. Click here to read her full story and find out the importance of hope and dreams!
2) Regina - People Person and Director of Databasix; Oxfordshire
Regina Lally represents the award-winning data protection agency, Databasix, and has been included in Natwest’s Showcase of 100 Inspirational Women across the South East as part of their International Women’s Day 2021 Celebrations. We are proud Databasix has chosen to support African Children’s Fund and humbled that Regina has explained her support of our work throughout 2020 in her Showcase.
“To say that 2020 was a challenging year is somewhat of an understatement. Reflecting on how I ‘Chose to Challenge’ in 2020, the most important aspect that came to mind was how to continue to provide support to those who would face even tougher circumstances as a result of the global pandemic.
For a number of years, we’ve supported African Children’s Fund, a charity based in Witney who make a difference to children born into poverty. Covid-19 had an immediate impact through the closure of schools across Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania & Uganda, where their local NGO partners run programmes to address issues around education, period poverty, injustice and child abuse. Coupled with a strict lockdown in the UK, African Children’s Fund’s shops were closed and opportunities for fundraising through organised events immediately reduced.
At a time where it would have been easy to focus internally and on my own immediate concerns, I challenged myself to continue finding ways to support them and their initiatives. I started by joining the 2.6 Challenge, organised on the day the London Marathon would have taken place, to raise funds and awareness, and used lockdown weekends to clear out and was ready to donate items no longer needed when their shops re-opened.
As a business, we want the relationship we have to be ongoing and meaningful with African Children’s Fund, so I look for opportunities make introductions, to widen their reach, to use my voice to support their voice in my networks.
African Children’s Fund gives a voice to the girls affected by period poverty, and now to the girls facing increased risk of rape and pregnancy because they’re not in school due to Covid-19. It’s important that their voices are heard, that their education is valued, and that their futures are secure for the dreams they want to achieve. The challenge may be harder than it was, but it’s one that African Children’s Fund are facing head on, and we’ll be with them every step of the way.”
Do you choose to challenge yourself to support African Children’s Fund and help more girls like Brenda challenge expectations to reach their dreams? Please get in touch as we would love to hear from you.