Elizabeth Reja Lege, Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, enrolled in 2023

Imagine being thirteen years old and leaving your mother, your siblings, and your country because you believe you will have a better chance of going to school in a refugee camp.

That was Elizabeth’s choice.

In South Sudan, only one girl in ten completes primary school, and girls make up just one-third of secondary students. After Elizabeth’s father died, her mother could no longer support all six children. So Elizabeth and one of her sisters left home to live with their aunt in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp.

It was a leap of faith—and a sacrifice Elizabeth does not take lightly.

“If I were in Juba,” she says, “I would just be sitting at home or hawking wares.”

Instead, Elizabeth enrolled at Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School and became a Mercy Beyond Borders Scholar in 2023. She has now completed secondary school, an achievement she once never thought possible.

Kakuma is home to more than 300,000 refugees, including approximately 186,000 people from South Sudan. Life there is difficult. Elizabeth’s extended family cooks over a single wood-burning stove in a small, packed-earth kitchen. Fuel must be gathered, and every bit of food matters. If a meal burns, there may be nothing to replace it.

image credit: WFP/Leni Kinzli

Despite these hardships, Elizabeth looks beyond her own needs. Alongside her MBB sisters, she volunteers at a local hospital, visiting patients and encouraging those facing serious illness.

“MBB has made me more aware of my community,” she says.

Elizabeth knows there are challenges ahead. She is working to strengthen her math and science skills and build the confidence she will need to continue her education. Her dreams range from becoming a flight attendant or lawyer to singing gospel music. Whatever path she chooses, one hope remains constant: to support her mother and younger siblings and honor the family that sacrificed so much for her.

Elizabeth now hopes to be selected as an MBB university Scholar. Her grit and determination have carried her this far, and she is ready to keep going.

Your support gives determined young women like Elizabeth the opportunity to keep going. Become a supporter today.