Credit:UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
“When I was sixth grade, my mother used to say, very often, ‘Finish this year, and do not go to school anymore’,” said Gina,* a youth advocate from the marginalized Roma community in Albania.
In many ways, she did what her mother expected. She became engaged at 15 and married soon afterward. By 19 years old, she was a mother.
Gina struggled to care for her family at such a young age, but her father insisted she continue her education. “He used to encourage me to continue school, otherwise I would suffer without knowledge and without a job.”
Unlike many girls in her situation, she finished high school and went on to university. Afterward, she began working with community organizations. The work was crucial, not only so that she be a role model, but also so that she could support herself; her husband left when their daughter was just seven years old.
Today, Gina works with young people who are facing with the same issues she fought to overcome: entrenched poverty, gender inequality, child marriage, early pregnancy and pressure to drop out of school.
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Source & Copyright: UNPFA