In addition to going to school, Cheyenne would also assist her father in his farming efforts, when her school day had finished, which enabled a small amount of money to be brought into the family for them to survive on, but they could barely make ends meet.
At the tender age of 17 years old, whilst walking home from school one day, she met a man much older than her, which later resulted in her becoming pregnant and having to drop out of school. Due to Cheyenne’s parents’ disappointment of what she had done, she had no choice but to move out of her family home, marry the man who impregnated her and live with him to raise her family. After giving birth to her first son, two years later, she became pregnant with her second son.
Sadly in 2022, now at 25 years old, her husband passed away and because of this, she had no means to survive and be able to look after her two sons. Cheyenne decided to approach her parents and request to move back in with them. They honoured her request, but refused to support her and her children. Cheyenne decided to look for various piece jobs in the local community, to earn a living to put her sons through school. Towards the end of 2022, Cheyenne made the decision that she wanted to go back to school, as she was passionate about becoming educated which she hoped would bring about opportunities later for her to improve her family’s difficult situation. She worked day and night to earn enough money to put herself through school, and at the start of 2023, she was enrolled at the same school that her two sons are at. Whilst attaining her education, she continued working, to ensure that her family was able to just make ends meet.
Now at the age of 26 years old, Cheyenne is back at school, despite being amongst other students in her class who are 13 to 14 years old. This bravery and determination to return to school and complete her education, at her age, to better her family’s life, is what led us to make the decision for her to be a beneficiary of the Catalyst Foundation – S.H.E Programme.
After meeting Cheyenne’s teachers at her school, we found out that her academic ability was average, due to her missing numerous days of school during the rainy season. She is a really hard worker, always cheerful, and she never allows her difficult situation to bring her down. Her teachers believe that with Catalyst Foundation’s support, she has the potential to greatly improve her academic ability, and be able to thrive in the classroom.
Through our holistic support provided to Cheyenne, we were able to remove all of her barriers, allowing her to now be able to consistently go to school and continue with her education, without having the stress of working as well to earn a living. We provided Cheyenne with new school uniforms, shoes, a school bag, stationery, textbooks, exercise books, sanitary wear and family food hampers. She now has peace of mind, knowing that all of her needs are taken care of by the Catalyst Foundation, allowing her to be able to focus on supporting her two sons and their needs.
Since joining the S.H.E Programme, Cheyenne has transformed into a confident individual, and is even more motivated to continue studying hard to complete her studies with flying colours. Cheyenne is a school Prefect, and once she finishes her secondary schooling, she has dreams of going to university to become a Teacher.
We asked Cheyenne to share with us in one sentence what the
Catalyst Foundation – S.H.E Programme means to her:
“I am beyond grateful to the Catalyst Foundation for believing in me because now I can finish my schooling and go to university, whilst knowing that my sons are being taken care of as well. ”