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Twelve kilometers from our Ndoto offices, one of our students who graduated eight years ago is making a life for herself. Monica faced the barriers that teenage girls face in an urban slum, including cultural bias, low access to education, gender-based violence, and lack of proper hygiene and sanitation, not to mention the pervasive economic hardship.
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| Monica in 2014 |
Monica completed her first two years of high school before her education was disrupted when she became pregnant. Monica was not suspended from our program. Instead, Ndoto became a resource to help her navigate the challenges of early parenthood. The fact that Monica never gave up on her dreams encouraged Ndoto to choose mercy over justice as an expression of what Monica called “principled tolerance.” We do not encourage willful faults, but understand the causes of mistakes in life.
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Knowing what she wanted to pursue, Monica asked permission to join a vocational training institute to take a course on hairdressing. She completed the program in 2016 with Ndoto’s help. After leaving the sponsorship program, she continued to train and hone her skills through various beautician and entrepreneurship programs.
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In 2020, Monica opened her own salon in Rabuor, where we visited her. It’s called Mama Nicole Salon, a nod to her daughter, whom she named in honor of her Ndoto sponsor. Four years down the line, she says she has mentored at least twenty beautician students and provided opportunities for others to work with her. She currently has two employees and she has counted Ndoto staff among her clients.
Thanks to her successful business, Monica is today raising a family of three beautiful children. She thanks Ndoto for the deep investment, including the many times that the Ndoto team followed up with her during and after her sponsorship. She told us before we left, “Students should never give up, no matter the situation. All the other alumni who have built careers and are standing courtesy of the program should also hold the hands of others in need as a way of giving back.” We have often seen how sponsorship multiplies when beneficiaries go on to help others.
