Nafisa, Niger

Nafisa was part of the first cohort of scholars in 2008. Ten years later, she told us: "A leader is someone who has the capacity to change people in a way that helps them to achieve one or more goals. Since I was in the EL program, I have got my masters in nutrition, organized community cleaning days, organized and presented to community organizations about HIV/AIDS, and used first aid that I learned with EL on my family.”

Nafisa continued, “I supervised my siblings in their homework, mediated several groups of young people, invited groups of girls to watch my Expanding Lives video to show them what is possible with hard work, encouraged 6 neighborhood girls who had left school to see themselves as leaders (they are now teachers in underserved areas!), trained in 4 of EL’s Young Girls Conferences, supervised 9 interns in nutrition (and one was a younger Expanding Lives' girl.). I continue to work on my understanding of the field of nutrition so that I can continue working professionally. "