Cassavas, greens, maize and potatoes. With COVID spreading, all children are at home, so she helps out by growing vegetables. As markets are closed and villages are in lockdown, it is her family’s only source of food.

Not going to school might not seem like a big sacrifice, but in her eyes, it is everything.

Because this girl just loves school.

Her favourite subjects are English and social studies. Classmate Joanne is her best friend and they share everything.

It hurts being separated.

“Our teachers used to talk to us about how to guide ourselves, but now there’s no one. You take care of yourself.”

Children on the streets, young girls vulnerable and trying to find money for basic needs. A school prefect with a sense of responsibility beyond her years, it worries her greatly.

Imagine being a young woman in the midst of a pandemic and having to depend on others, maybe even strangers, for money to buy sanitary products.

She decided to teach local girls to make their own. A simple enough task but one that keeps them safe at home, away from predators and COVID.

“I feel bad because at their age they cannot manage. They need to first look for some ways of standing on their own.”

Her enthusiasm does not end with her peers. She tells others about hand hygiene and avoiding crowds. She tries to help protect the elderly and the introverted.

When school started again, the impact of lockdown could be seen everywhere. Pregnancy and early marriage meant that many girls wanted to drop out of school. It became her mission to encourage them to stay and build a future. To think of the long term. A better future.

A future beyond COVID.