As a result of Landisa’s aunts financial situation, she would sometimes go a few days without any food, and she was unable to consistently go to school, as her school fees were often not paid. On the days when she was able to go back to school, which wasn’t very often, Landisa did not have any stationery supplies, textbooks, exercise books, or a school uniform. Travelling to school daily used to be really difficult for her when she lived with her parents because she would have to walk more than ten kilometres to school every day. Now that she is living with her aunt, who lives much closer to her school, she travels one kilometre or so to school, which is great, as now she does not feel too tired when she is at school and unable to fully focus on her studies, which is how she used to feel.
After meeting Landisa’s teachers at her school, we found out that she is academically exceptional, despite her missing so many days of school at a time. She has a really sweet and kind character, with a strong passion to be educated. Her teachers believe that with Catalyst Foundation’s support, they are confident that she is going to do really well in her schooling, and go on to achieve many great things in her future.
Through our holistic support provided to Landisa, we were able to remove all of her barriers, allowing her to go to school and continue with her education. We provided her with new school uniforms, shoes, a school bag, stationery, textbooks, exercise books, sanitary wear and family food hampers. Our health check examinations carried out, identified that she had an Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). From this analysis, we were able to address this health issue, and now she is perfectly healthy. Landisa’s aunt now has peace of mind, now that her needs are taken care of by the Catalyst Foundation, and she hopes that through this support, Landisa will become “greater than (her)”.
Since joining the S.H.E Programme, Landisa is now motivated to continue studying hard to complete her studies with flying colours. Once she finishes her secondary schooling, she has dreams of going to university to become a Lawyer.
We asked Landisa to share with us in one sentence what the
Catalyst Foundation – S.H.E Programme means to her:
“The thought of being able to be educated and become a Lawyer one day, all because of the S.H.E Programme, inspires me to continue working very hard at school.”