“I now have friends and a support system of people who love me and interact with me, so I feel fine. My group, God’s Choice, feels like a family.”
In 2009, before she joined the Zoe Empowers program, Bendu’s father died leaving her with her mother and two younger siblings.
In 2014, tragedy struck again when the Ebola virus took Bendu’s mother. Following the death of both of her parents, she had to take on the role of a mother — caring for her younger siblings.
Looking back on the death of her mother, Bendu reflected, “I felt so bad. I felt discouraged because there was nobody to advise me. My whole life became spoiled, and I had no hope for any future.”
When she joined Zoe Empowers, Bendu’s peers elected her as president of her group., and in June of 2017 she graduated from a training program that is empowering her to start a business as a hairdresser. A Zoe Empowers micro-grant is providing a start-up kit for this new business which will build on the dry goods and pastry business Bendu already runs in her community.
She said, “I now have friends and a support system of people who love me and interact with me, so I feel fine. My group, ‘God’s Choice,’ feels like a family.”
Bendu now has a beautiful home. Her siblings are re-enrolled in school, and she has learned her rights and how to enforce them.
“I now know that if a man tries to violate me, I can go to child protection, my mentor, my group or the Zoe Empowers staff. I feel the courage to report it now because of my group support. Before Zoe Empowers, I had no idea I could report violence against me. I used to think it was forbidden to carry the complaint of a bigger man to authorities. If any man tries to violate a girl in our group or community, we will take that man to human rights. Amen! The boys in my Zoe Empowers group would also join us in taking it up with authorities.”
For as little as $9 a month, you can help to empower a teenage girl like Bendu — impacting her life and the lives of her siblings.
[button url=”https://www.wearezoe.org/monthly-shared-partnership/” style=”primary” text=”Learn More”]
