Hawanatu Conteh

Country: Sierra Leone

My birthday is 2014-05-27

Status: Paternal Orphan/Vulnerable Child

I enjoy cooking

Hawanatu lives in the Monkey Bush community of Waterloo. Education is not free in Sierra Leone; families must pay for tuition, uniforms, school supplies, and other school fees. With parents struggling to provide for their families, this expense is many times not possible. Typically, those who can afford to send their children to school will choose to send only their sons. Girls will be left at home to tend to daily chores and their younger siblings while parents work. This lack of education and supervision leaves girls just entering adolescence very vulnerable to teenage pregnancy. For girls who have not been given access to education, they are often left with no option but to marry as early as 16 years of age, so they can be financially supported by their husband. Hawanatu lives with her aunt who works as a petty trader. Hawanatus father passed away when she was only 6 months old. Her mother was not able to take care of her, so Hawanatus aunt decided to raise her. Her aunt is not able to provide for both her basic needs and school costs, so Hawanatu has yet attended school. Hawanatu wishes she was in school, and she will be able to start Class 1 as soon as she is sponsored. She wants to be a soldier in the future.