Lilian

Lilian’s Story

Lilian almost gave up on her education. After high school, she worked for four years at a safari resort trying to save money to go to college. Lilian made equivalent to $60 a month and was able to save 24,000 shillings ($225 US), but unfortunately, this was not even enough to pay for her first month’s living expenses and books.

Lilian says a lack of education often leads to young women being taken advantage of by older men who offer early marriage to young girls who are desperate for options to survive. This leads to a cycle of forced labor and abuse for girls, a path she was almost forced to take. Lilian was weeks away from entering a forced marriage when she discovered that she was chosen to be a GLOW scholar. Because of the GLOW Foundation, she is on her way to completing a college education and one step closer to accomplishing her dream to work in tourism.

Depending on small-scale farming for income and food, her mother with no formal education, had to work menial jobs while raising Lillian and her two brothers. Since there was never enough income to support the entire family, there was nothing left to fund Lillian’s education.