I grew up in a remote community where being a girl often meant living with limitations.

Opportunities were scarce, mentorship was absent, and no one was there to guide us through the challenges of adolescence. As a young girl, I faced these struggles firsthand, navigating uncertainty without direction, wondering if there was more to life than what I could see around me.

It wasn't until I had the chance to attend university that my eyes were opened to a bigger world of possibilities. For the first time, I discovered that girls like me could dream bigger, achieve more, and rise above the barriers that seemed unshakable in my childhood.

That experience changed my life, but it also left me with a heavy burden: why should children growing up today in underserved communities go through the same hardships I faced when I now know better?