Annastazia lives with her aunts and uncles and their 10 children in Mwanza. She was a disinterested, mediocre student, skipped school, hung out with older youths and consumed drugs and alcohol.

That changed when she attended our workshops on sex education, sexual rights and violence prevention at her school. She was enthusiastic, trained as a trainer herself, and two years later was already leading her own workshops. In the process, she learned that many girls did not come to school during menstruation because they lacked a suitable toilet to change their sanitary napkins. She took the initiative, planned and realized a new toilet together with the school club and the principal. She secured the funding with her own fundraising campaign. Since the construction of the new toilet, absenteeism among young women has dropped sharply. Likewise, thanks to the workshops, the number of teenage pregnancies at the school dropped. Today, Annastazia is a delegate in our International Youth Network, and she plans to study law at university. She is a role model for many young people in the region.