You may remember Kevin (pictured in pink, next to Florence) from previous updates. She was one of the first to join our education programme, the first to take her A-Levels. Her dream was to go to university and train as a teacher. She’s worked hard and is now a student teacher at a local school.

And now Kevin has just become an important part of a new education programme helping out-of-school girls aged 10-15 (child mothers and survivors of sexual violence) to complete their education.

Last week we trained ten new ‘Protagonist Teachers’ from local schools we partner with. Part of Kevin’s role now is to support girls from our programme when they join her school.

“I’m so proud to be able to do this for girls in my community. I was once one of those girls being supported by Awamu, now I am able to give back through my job. So many girls in my community are really losing hope about their lives.

“Support from Awamu changed my life. They gave me the tools to stand on my own and strive for my dream to become a teacher.

“My main message for girls I work with is that you must believe good things are coming. No matter what has happened. My aim is to make sure girls believe in themselves because I know you can achieve anything if you have confidence in yourself, and you get a little support from Awamu.”

MAKE MINE A DOUBLE!

We’re thankful to the BigGive and The Coles-Medlock Foundation for giving us a matching grant. Like Kevin, they also believe in our new education programme and will double every donation made via our big give campaign page between 28 NOVEMBER and 5 DECEMBER.

To help us raise funds for our vital work our friends at Together festival and Radio Waters will be throwing an online Christmas party for us. There’ll be great music and special appearances all weekend long! Save the date 1-3 December– to tune in and take part. Find out more here.