By Marina Shafik | Communications Associate
Christine, a Big Sister in college, met Barcenia, her Little Sister in 4th grade, at one of the Community Development Associations in their area. Barcenia lives in a low-income family, her parents are divorced, and she is the oldest of four children. She had issues with academic performance, lacked self-confidence, and was very introverted. Due to her family’s financial status, Barcenia couldn’t get private tutoring to help her improve in school.
Christine felt compassion for her situation and decided to spend her free time helping Barcenia improve at school. Their mentoring sessions deepened the relation and trust between them and encouraged Barcenia to share some of her family and personal problems.
Christine eventually learned that Barcenia was physically abused by her school teacher. Christine encouraged Barcenia to complain about her school teacher to the principal. The principal ignored her complaint at first, but Barcenia put her foot down and defended her rights by continuously raising her complaints to the principal. Finally, the principal responded and officially gave the teacher a warning regarding his attitude.
Gradually, Barcenia improved at school and developed an unwavering trust in her Big Sister. This encouraged Barcenia’s mother to trust Christine as well because of her wisdom and maturity, and revealed that their financial struggles were partially due to her ex-husband refusing to pay his fair share of child support. Christine helped Barcenia’s mother to get child support and cared not only for her Little Sister, but for her whole family.
The Valuable Girl Project’s mission was verified in Barcenia and Christine’s lives by teaching them to be aware of their rights. Girls' empowerment starts by educating them their true value, and when girls and young women help to empower each other, there’s no limit to what they can achieve together!
The names and details in this story have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals.
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By Joseph Flynn | Communications Associate
By Joseph Flynn | Communications Associate
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