True Ladies Never Give Up, by Joyce Khavakali
If women in poor countries completed primary education, child mortality would drop by a sixth, saving almost one million lives each year. If they all had a secondary education, this rate would be halved, saving three million lives.
Thank you Harrington Family for your Christmas donation to Lenana Girls High School in Kitale, Kenya. Your contribution will advance our goals for the school and the students. This past year, we have been working to implement The Miracle Project to make reusable menstrual cups available to the girls; we’ve built a water well; and we’ve assisted select conscientious students with their school fees. Our latest project, going into 2015, is to take part in helping Lenana build a science laboratory. Science is an integral part of life, and students need more than books to fully understand its purpose.
To show our thanks, Joyce Khavakali has written a personal essay titled “True Ladies Never Give Up.” Joyce writes about her story, the trials she and her family faced after her father passed away, and how she managed to continue with secondary school at Lenana Girls High School. The real gift Joyce has to give is her unwavering faith that if you believe in your goals you will achieve them. She writes, “What I believed is that every girl is brave, magical, creative and unique. I know that girls possess a special power called wisdom and that dreams and the act of dreaming connect girls to this power.”
Joyce,
Thank you for your essay! You set a good example, writing about your trials and triumphs and believing in your goal to attend high school, even when it seemed hopeless. You did make it, and it’s clear that you have so much to offer this world already!!
I’m happy (and proud) to share your essay with my oldest and dearest friend, Erin and her family. I know she is right with you in believing that girls are wise, creative and unique, and that we have the special ability to keep up faith in ourselves and in those we love.
Sara