Written by Sam: Community Program Coordinator
One afternoon in February, while in my office, a young girl who we have never seen before knocked on my door requesting to have a meeting. When I invited her in, she introduced herself as Rumina and that she was 14 years old. Within a few seconds of introducing herself, she burst into tears. It took a few minutes for her to catch her breath, but when she did she began to tell me why she was here. “ I heard you help people go to school.” She explained that a few days earlier she and her mother had to leave their home due to domestic violence surrounding her education. Her mother advocating for her to go to school, but her father not seeing the need and insisted she go to work to help provide for the family. Rumina was desperate for someone to intervene. With tears in her eyes again she said, “please, can you help me go to school? I want to continue studying so that I can become a nurse.” But I need someone to help me register.
After sitting with her for what felt like hours, hearing her story, I told her to go home, collect her papers and that if she was serious to meet me tomorrow and I would help her enroll in school.
The next day, she arrived back at our offices at the exact same time, with all of her papers. We began filling out all the applications and went and submitted the same day. A few days later we received word that she had been accepted for fall enrollment!
Over the past few years we have seen an increase in desire to go to school among the kids in our communities. They are begining to understand that education is often the tool that breaks the cycles of poverty that they have grown up in. The idea that there is more to life than running drugs, selling fish or begging on the street has begun to spark interest among those we work with.
Though the cultural norm is still for children to work, we are seeing more that there is just a lack of understanding and the task of enrolling your child into school feels daunting for many who have never gone to school themselves. We have learned that sometimes they just simply need an advocate. Someone that grabs them by the hand and shows them where to go. We love that we get the opportunity to be that for them, to share with parents the importance of supporting their children’s dreams all the while teaching them how important education is and giving the parents the opportunity to go to school as well. It’s a delicate dance, but one we believe in advocating for, and one that is bringing change to the families and the generational lines in our communities.