Happy International Women’s Day 2020

At Milele’s core, we believe in choices & opportunities. The young women supported through our sponsorship program aren’t passive in their lives, we aren’t there to ‘save’ them or swoop in and do all the hard work. The young women supported by Milele are a true mix of everything it means to be a woman. They are strong, they are intelligent, they can be vulnerable, they have life experience in many cases far beyond their young years, they have a huge range of hopes and dreams for their lives. We have learnt far more from these young women than they will ever be able to learn from us.

When we provide sponsorship, it comes with the promise to do everything we can to keep the young person safe, healthy both physically & mentally, well fed and educated. But on top of that, we promise that - while we might offer guidance (often provided by Rieder, our co-ordinator in Kenya), it is THEY who will make the big choices about their lives.

We have young women on the way to career paths they have chosen, one in college, some headed for clearly academic paths, some whom their desire was to become a Mum, and have done so (and are superstar Mummy’s) - and also have been supported to finish school at the same time when they expressed that was their desire.

These young women might not have had the financial means to make their choices into realities, but they always had the motivation and the strength to do it with a little helping hand.

Here’s to the young women of Milele, may we continue to learn from them in every way. And here’s to you, for doing your bit to get them there.