At 3:40 a.m., Brenda sets her alarm. The village of Nsaika is still quiet. Most families are asleep, but Brenda is getting ready for another school day. By 4 a.m., she begins walking. Her journey to school takes around three hours. Fifteen kilometres on foot. She arrives at around 7:30 a.m., ready to learn. Then, after a full day at school, she makes the same journey home.
On some days, she does not arrive until around 7 p.m. For Brenda, 16, the journey is long. But something is waiting for her at the end: a chance to finish her education and achieve her dream of becoming a nurse. “I dream of becoming a nurse,” Brenda says. “I would want to help my family members if they get sick. I want to have a stable job which will help me have a better future.”
For a girl who has already faced so much, that dream is something she refuses to let go.
Brenda lives with her parents and five older brothers in the small village of Nsaika. The youngest in her family, she has always loved learning. She is on track to become the first person in her family to complete Grade 12. But for Brenda, getting to school has always meant more than simply making a long journey. It means confronting a fear shared by many girls who travel long distances to school.
“One of the biggest fears children, especially girls, have or face while making the journey to school is finding men that can rape you along the way,” Brenda explains.
For Brenda, that fear became a reality. She was just 14.
One evening in August, after staying late at school to study, Brenda began the long journey home. It was dark, and she was frightened. Along the way, she met a man she did not know. “He called me and asked who I am,” she recalls. “He asked if he could escort me and I said yes because it was dark and I was scared.”
Brenda did not know what he intended to do. “We started walking. What I did not know was that he had planned to grab me and rape me.”
The man attacked her and left her alone.
“After that he ran away. I did not know him or where he was from because it was late at night.” Brenda managed to get a lift from a passing vehicle and eventually made her way home, where she told her parents what had happened. But because she could not identify the man, there was little they could do. The experience left Brenda carrying fear and pain that would stay with her long after that night.
Two months later, Brenda realised she was pregnant. “When that happened, I had a lot of thoughts,” she says. “I considered dropping out because my school had already been disturbed and the future I dreamt of was no longer within reach.”
For a moment, the future she had been working towards felt as though it had disappeared. But Brenda made a different decision. She would continue her education.
Her friends encouraged her to keep going and to think about how she could care for her baby. Her parents stood behind her too. “My father supported me by always encouraging me to stay in school,” she says. “He also supported me by ensuring I had all the things I needed for school.” Her mother promised to help care for the baby. “She said I should not be worried, she will help watch over my child.”
So Brenda kept going. She attended school throughout her pregnancy until she was seven months pregnant, when she was given leave from learning. Those months were difficult. “I had a lot of hurt and pain in my heart,” she recalls. At eight months pregnant, Brenda developed complications and was admitted to hospital for around two weeks because of high blood pressure. Then her baby was born.
Brenda's son, Joseph*, experienced complications around his birth. His development was affected and he now requires constant care. When doctors explained his condition, Brenda was heartbroken. “When the doctor informed me about my son’s condition, I was very sad and I would cry a lot in the hospital.” After they returned home, Brenda began to notice the differences between Joseph and other children his age.
“The babies around the same time as him are now crawling and he isn’t doing anything, so it hurts me.” Joseph is now a young child who needs significant support with everyday activities. For Brenda, being a mother means carrying another set of worries alongside her own.
She worries about whether her son will improve. She worries about who will care for him. And she worries about what his needs might mean for her own future, especially for school.
“I am hopeful and worried about the future, about my child, whether he will get better; I worry that I won’t be able to go anywhere if my child cannot move or get better; I worry that there won’t be anyone to take care of my child. I worry I won’t be able to go to school.”
Across Zambia, girls face barriers that can prevent them from completing their education and reaching their potential. Gender inequality and harmful social norms contribute to high levels of gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and child marriage. According to available national data, 29% of women aged 20–24 were married before the age of 18, while 29% of girls aged 15–19 were pregnant or had already given birth.
Sexual violence during childhood is also a serious concern. These statistics represent girls with hopes, ambitions and futures of their own.
Girls like Brenda. When a girl experiences violence or becomes pregnant, the consequences can extend far beyond the initial trauma. She may face stigma from her peers, interrupted education, pressure to leave school, caring responsibilities and uncertainty about her future. Without support, it can become easy for a girl to believe that her dreams are no longer possible. Brenda nearly felt that way herself.
But her story also shows what can happen when a girl has people around her who encourage her to keep going.
Brenda is supported through World Vision's Chongwe South Area Programme (AP), which has been working in the community since 2010. The programme supports around 3,400 registered children and works across education, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, and child protection. A strong focus is placed on preventing and responding to gender-based violence.
For survivors like Brenda, this includes access to support, counselling and protection. The programme also works to strengthen the systems around children and communities so that violence can be prevented and survivors can receive the support they need.
This work matters because keeping girls safe is not separate from keeping them in school. A girl cannot fully benefit from an education if she is afraid of the journey to school. A girl who experiences violence needs support to recover. And a girl who becomes a mother needs encouragement and practical support if she is to continue learning. Supporting girls means looking at all of these barriers together. It means helping create communities where girls can travel safely, stay in school, speak up when they experience violence and have people around them who believe in what they can achieve.
Brenda's story is a powerful reminder that sponsorship is about more than providing a child with access to education. It is about helping create the conditions in which a girl can keep learning, stay protected and believe in her future. Through World Vision's work, children and families can be connected with programmes that address education, health, nutrition and child protection, while communities are supported to tackle the wider issues that put children at risk.
For a girl like Brenda, that support can help keep a door open when circumstances threaten to close it. She can gain the knowledge and skills to find meaningful work. She can have greater choices about her future. She can contribute to her family and community. And she can become an example to other girls who are facing similar challenges.
Brenda wants to be that example. “They do not know what the future holds” Despite everything she has experienced, Brenda still believes her future can be different. She still wants to become a nurse.
She wants a stable job so that she can support her family. She wants to help her loved ones when they are sick and she wants to give Joseph the best future she can. But she also wants other girls who have experienced what she has experienced to know that their stories are not over. “I would like to encourage a girl that dropped out because of a similar situation to keep going to school and they should keep working hard,” Brenda says. “They do not know what the future holds.”
Those words capture the hope at the heart of Brenda's story. She does not know exactly what the future holds. But she knows what she is working towards and so, every morning, Brenda gets up at 3:40 a.m. At 4 a.m., she starts walking. Fifteen kilometres to school. Fifteen kilometres home.
It is a long road. But Brenda is still walking towards her dream.
Every girl deserves the chance to keep walking towards hers. When you sponsor a girl through World Vision, you can help support children and communities facing poverty and vulnerability, helping girls access education, protection and opportunities to build a better future.
Sponsor a girl today and help give her the chance to dream, learn and thrive.
*Brenda and Joseph's names have been changed and their identities hidden to protect their safety.