Fatuma’s Story: Young Women Empowered

We envision a world in which all young people lead creative, purposeful lives.

I am from Kenya originally so I am a newcomer to this country. I am doing my best to be a productive student in the U.S and I was privileged to be invited to participate in the Young Women Empowered program. I attended the program last year and I have now returned to work as a youth intern because I wanted to help those young women like myself who wish to change the world. I also felt that I wanted to return the love and support that was given to me when I attended last year.

There is no doubt that the program has changed my life. It gave me the opportunity to meet with professionals from all different walks of life. That inspired me greatly. I have now organized my own fundraiser event called Give the Gift of Water (image above) to raise money for Mercy Corps. Before attending the program I didn’t feel like I was able to put together an event of this kind, but having talked with the professionals I realized that I could do it if I wanted to, so that is where my foundation grew from.

Young Women Empowered taught me to be positive and confident and to appreciate that I can achieve the things that I want to achieve. I feel like I am a strong woman who will never forget my goals. I have learned how to believe in myself. I will take the skills I have learned with me through college and for the rest of my life.

This fall I will begin a course at Western Washington University. After that I see myself becoming an architect. One day, when I have finished studying, I would like to travel around the world helping people who need help and assisting with the building of schools. Everyone deserves an education. I would like to be able to support the many people that I left behind in Africa and to help them to achieve the gift of learning and academics.

For me, the main obstacle affecting young girls today is the media. I would like every girl to understand that they are beautiful the way they are and that they do not need to copy the images they see in the media. Programs like Young Women Empowered show girls that they are beautiful inside and out. It helps young women to learn to communicate effectively and to develop leadership skills. Without the help of this program I would not have been able to organize my own fundraiser.

Young Women Empowered is one of our partner organizations. You can find out more about why we work with partner organizations and Partners for Youth Empowerment’s approach to youth empowerment on our website.

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