At 17, Ladi is growing up in a community where displacement has made everyday life difficult and the future can feel uncertain.
For many girls in displaced communities, challenges around education, economic opportunity and social pressures can limit the possibilities they see for themselves. WINGS was created to respond to these realities by providing displaced women and girls with knowledge, mentorship, life skills and opportunities that strengthen their confidence and independence.
For Ladi, being part of that process has begun to change how she thinks about her own future.
WINGS goes beyond providing immediate assistance. Its approach is centred on helping participants develop knowledge, practical skills and the confidence to pursue their own aspirations.
Through its empowerment programme, beneficiaries received direct mentoring, informal education, livelihood development support and curriculum tools. The programme also incorporated financial literacy, entrepreneurship coaching and livelihood aspiration support to help participants begin thinking about sustainable ways forward.
For Ladi, this environment created something just as important as the skills themselves: hope.
She now believes that her circumstances do not have to determine what she can become.
One of the most powerful parts of Ladi’s story is that her aspirations extend beyond earning an income.
She sees education as part of the future she wants to build.
Her words, “I believe say I fit make am, not just for business, but for school too,” capture a growing confidence in her ability to pursue multiple possibilities.
That shift matters. Empowerment begins when someone can look beyond their present circumstances and imagine a different future for themselves.
Ladi’s experience reflects the larger purpose of WINGS: to ensure that displaced girls and women are not defined solely by their vulnerability, but are supported to become active participants in shaping their own futures.
The programme’s work with girls is also part of WINGS’ broader commitment to equipping younger beneficiaries with essential life skills, expanding their educational opportunities and strengthening their ability to contribute economically to their households and communities.
Ladi’s story is still unfolding.
But something has already changed. Where she once describes her experience as being filled with “wahala,” she now speaks about hope and the possibility of making it through both education and business.
Her journey reminds us that meaningful impact does not always begin with a dramatic transformation. Sometimes, it begins with a young girl believing, perhaps for the first time, that she can have a future worth working towards.
Your contribution fuels the programs that turn these statistics into life-changing
realities. Empower a woman, strengthen a community.
