For generations, women have faced their fair share of societal problems. The quest for an equal society has been long and tiresome. The fruits of this quest are only just being realized. Despite the noticeable progress, it is evident that more needs to be done to remedy endemic inequalities and injustices within society.
International Women’s Day, marked every March 8th, is set aside for joint efforts to disseminate messages for equal rights, celebrating women and embracing the multiple differences across the social-economic and political divide.
Perpetua Pollette is a third-year student at Maseno University studying Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Literature. She has dedicated her free time on campus to fight for women’s rights and drive impact through her organization – Maseno Girl Child Empowerment. Ms Pollette believes there is a lot that needs to be done to right the wrongs within society. She has taken it upon herself to reach hundreds of young women and girls.
Hivisasa Africa spoke to Ms Pollette on her aspirations for girl child empowerment. In this interview, she talks about the significance of International Women’s Day, her inspiration, goals and the many challenges she has to overcome to reach young women and girls in society.
What does this year’s International Women’s Day theme, “Accelerate Action”, mean to you, and how does it speak to what you do?
This year’s International Women’s Day theme, ‘Accelerate Action’ means that we have to put more effort towards whatever we are doing. It also means we need to put more urgency into everything we are doing as young women to make society more inclusive and more equal. As founder of Maseno Girl Child Empowerment, this theme speaks directly to me and what I am doing. It encourages me to put in more effort towards girl child empowerment.
My primary aim is to move towards my goals with greater speed. I want to try out new things and clear the path towards my goals because I fully understand that without action and speed, it is not possible to move forward. ‘Action’ is our key theme at Maseno Girl Child Empowerment. It’s a constant reminder of the work I am doing and encourages me to positively impact people’s lives at many levels of society.
How do you manage what you do and the demands of your course?
I currently have friends at the Maseno Girl Child Empowerment that have been crucial in helping me run critical sessions and outreach events. Alongside well-wishers and partners, they help me run in-semester events and see to it that we are able to monitor and evaluate the collective impact. They have been key in helping mobilize, organize donations like sanitary pads and toilet papers and getting the venues for events. It sounds a lot, but I have been able to manage quite comfortably because this is something I do with great passion.
Which female figure inspires you and why
Stacy Erica is my greatest inspiration. She’s the reason why I started this. I draw a lot of inspiration from her and have closely followed her work and the impact she managed to generate. He intense focus is a trait a dream of having and building on. She inspires me and gives me the belief that I can achieve anything I want as a woman.
Compared to your earlier experience growing up, do you think society is more equal today than it was then? And if you were to change anything today, what would you change and why
Growing up, seeing women being abused by their spouses was a common occurrence. I witnessed families get torn apart because of an abusive father. I have seen children drop out of school or forego their education because of this. This is part of what I would like to solve and hope that I can have the power to prevent it or take someone through school so that that break-up is not their most prominent memory.
My goal is to see women stand out and express themselves. Stand up to be counted! Women have a right to proper education, a right to be heard and a right to meaningful political participation.
Women also deserve the opportunities to change their surroundings and the world because they carry so much potential. It is through changing the world that some of us find the greatest fulfilment.
What is your biggest motivation to keep representing young women on campus?
What keeps me going and motivated in representing girls. I just love seeing girls thrive and making it in life. I’m trying to create a space where we are continuously telling girls that they’re enough and that they can achieve their dreams. Representing girls and young women is like a dream come true for me, it is something I find so much satisfaction in doing. I strongly believe that with time, I will be able to reach a lot of girls instantly and without any problem, either financially or otherwise.
What is the biggest issue you encounter while advocating for the rights of young women on campus?
Some of the issues we in have encountered so far are financial in nature. Getting essential items, including sanitary towels and pampers, has been a great challenge. Our wish is to be able to get as many of these items on our own and be able to meaningfully reach women in society. It holds us back and negatively impacts planning. As we all know, we are on campus, where everybody is kind of broke. It becomes so difficult to hold an event even if you decide to sacrifice and pool the little cash you have.
Getting willing partners or funds from organizations or individuals has not been possible so far. My prayer is that this changes in the near future.
Being that I am only 22 years old and trying my best to learn as much as possible, it has been occasionally difficult to handle major issues impacting the young women and girls and that I interact with on a daily basis. There is always a unique problem to handle, almost on a daily basis. It gives me great satisfaction to be able to interact with these young women and girls and help them feel more comfortable within their spaces. I have occasionally had to enlist the services of qualified people, qualified doctors to help us go through what we are doing.
Maseno Girl Child Empowerment Founder On Impact And Future Plans
How many students have you been able to impact, and what are your plans for the future?
We managed to reach a lot of ladies out there in campus, we have also expanded our reach to include communities closer to the university. We’ve reached mothers in school where we’ve helped them with some sanitary towels, some pampers for the babies, and many other personal things.
We tell them that being mothers in campus does not mean they don’t have a life. They can still live their life. We have reached a lot of ladies who are struggling financially and struggling with mental issues. We have organized wellness camps and training sessions. Over time, most of the ladies that were initially shy to openly share their feelings have opened up and allowed us to fully support them.
So far so good. Maseno Girl Child Empowerment has reached over 600 young women and girls.
What message do you have for young women in Maseno University struggling to fit in society today?
My message to young women in Maseno University is that society is ours. We should not fear. We have a chance to stand up, be counted and to meaningfully change society. We have a right to be heard, and we have a right to express our feelings.
We have a right to achieve our dreams. Do anything you want to do. Make an impact in society. Leave a legacy out there. Let your voice be heard as a young person. Be straightforward in your course. And finally, you are enough. You are more beautiful. Let nobody tell you anything. You can thrive, you can be heard, and you can be anything you want to be.
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Awww that was impactful to me as an individual