Names and personal details have been modified to protect children’s identities.
My name is Aina. I was still young when my mother died. After that, I went to live with relatives. They were doing their best, but there was always work to be done and little money to spare. I helped with water, cooking and looking after younger children. School slowly stopped being part of my daily life.
When Altervitam helped me return to school, I understood that it was up to me to remain there. The condition was simple: I had to make progress each year. I did not have to be first in class, but I had to improve and take my studies seriously.
At the beginning, I was not one of the best pupils. Some lessons were difficult for me, and my first marks were not very high. Each term, I tried to do better than before. When I received my report card, I went through it with my mentor. She showed me how to revise, how to organise my notebook and how to prepare for exams. She encouraged me, but she could not study in my place.
Most evenings, I did my homework after finishing household chores. I was often tired, yet I reminded myself that staying in school depended on my effort. If I stopped trying, I knew it would be easy to remain at home and eventually be sent into marriage like many girls who are no longer studying.
Little by little, my marks improved. I began to understand lessons more quickly and felt more confident speaking in class. When people see my results now, they sometimes think I have always been a strong student. The truth is that I worked because school mattered to me. The support helped me, but the decision to continue term after term was mine.