“I want to be a policewoman,” Phelisia says clearly. When Phelisia talks about her future, she does not begin with herself,  she begins with her community. This is the path she wants to follow because she sees injustice in her community and believes that, as a police officer, she could help people live better lives with fairness and justice.

For Phelisia, school is the doorway to the kind of future where people can work, serve, and help shape the places they come from. She understands education as something that connects directly to possibility. Her favourite thing about school is simple: “It is the reason why there are jobs in the community. “You couldn’t be a pilot if you don’t go to school.”

For Phelisia, joy is found in the everyday things that make a child feel safe and seen. She is happy when she is doing the correct thing, spending time with friends, and when something special happens and she is included in it. Her best friend, Esther, is part of that joy. Phelisia describes her as a peacemaker, someone who sometimes stops arguments between students. Even in the way Phelisia speaks about friendship, you hear the values she notices and admires: fairness, care, and the courage to help others.

Phelisia recently received her new school uniform, and she describes the change: “It makes me very excited and happy, most of the time very joyful. Some of my problems have gone away.”

Those words remind us that practical support can shift how a child experiences school. It can ease worry. It can help a student feel ready to participate. It can create room for confidence, friendships, learning, and the small moments of joy that every child deserves. And a sense of belonging that matters. It is part of what schools can offer children as they grow, learn and begin to imagine the roles they may one day hold in their communities.

Through our work with schools, local partners, tailors and communities, we want students like Phelisia to have the support they need to attend school with confidence and focus on what lies ahead. A uniform can remove a practical barrier, but the wider goal is for children to have access to learning, build friendships, take part fully in school life and pursue the futures they choose.

When I asked who she admires, Phelisia first pauses with a little hesitation. “This might be a little silly,” she says, before sharing that she admires her mother. And I immediately tell her that her mother is exactly the kind of role model she can be proud to look up to.

Phelisia admires her mother because she works hard every day. She describes her as “as busy as a bee,” a chef who previously used to make and sell ice popsicles, and someone who stands up for people in difficult situations. In her mother, Phelisia sees strength and responsibility. She sees someone who keeps going, and someone who helps others when they have a problem.

It makes sense, then, that Phelisia’s own dream is rooted in justice. She is learning from the people around her, from her mother, from her friend Esther, from her school, and from the community she wants to serve. One day, she hopes to bring those same values into her own work as a policewoman. And perhaps, like Esther and her mother, she will help bring more peace, fairness and possibility to the people around her.

We often engage with many students like Phelisa, and their stories are an example of what becomes possible when children are supported to stay in school, feel included, and believe that their dreams matter. It is about a student who sees injustice and imagines herself doing something about it. It is about education as a path to success, dignity, leadership, and community change. And it is about joy too, the joy of belonging, of friendship, of learning, and of being part of something special.