Letter to a Donor

Beyond Ambitions Initiative

Tshanyaugwe Primary School

Post Office Box 330

Gwanda, Zimbabwe

11 April 2025

Dear Sir/Madam Donor

“Sis, do you think that its still possible for me to become a Software Engineer? Do you think I will ever matter enough to someone that they can decide to sponsor my education? Do you think the world will accept me, value me and respect my opinions if it happens that I finally become one?”

This is a flow of questions I was asked as I hugged the last one of the teenage girls I have just finished sharing a mentorship session with. She looked at me with eyes full of uncertainty, curiosity and fear as these questions flew continuously out of her mouth through her dry lips. Her name is Daisy, 13 years old, very brilliant and smart. She had listened intently throughout the session, sitting in the front row and absorbing every single word. That day I was sharing with them the importance of education, the effects of child marriages and teenage pregnancies. When the session ended, she lingered behind and asked the question that echoes in my heart to this day. As I hugged her even more tight before answering her questions my mind repeated the part of the question that stuck me the most- “Do you think I will ever matter enough to someone that they can decide to sponsor my education?” This part and the look in her eyes when she asked it got stuck in my mind forever.

I saw in her eyes the fear of a future she didn’t choose- one where she could be married off before her next birthday. One where education is a dream not a right.

That moment I realized Daisy`s question is not hers alone. It is the silent cry of countless girls across Africa and far too often the world answers them with silence. The elders of their communities tell them they are too loud, too ambitious, too emotional or that the world is too huge-they are invisible.

Every year promising programs collapse due to lack of funding. Safe learning spaces shut down, scholarships disappear and mentorship programs goes dark. With every lost opportunity, another ambitious girl like Daisy slips through the cracks- not because she lacked potential but because the world lacked the will to fund her.

I therefore write to you not just with urgency but with a vision- because the truth is stark: when aid to women led movements is cut, progress doesn’t just slow, it reverses. When the lifelines disappear, so do the safe spaces were GBV survivors speak for the first time. Mentorship programs like the one that I make sure I give to these young brilliant girls in my community every now and then will fade into silence. When funding for girl’s education dries up, the consequences are immediate and devastating. A girl out of school is a girl at risk- of child marriage, of early pregnancy or a lifetime of diminished potential.

The cost of silence is steep and its paid in lives, in lost potential, in dreams that never gets to bloom.

But I have seen what happens when girls find their voices and its unstoppable! I have seen what happens when women led movements are supported like the changemakers they are. I have seen women like Malala Yousafzai build peace in conflict zones with no funding but endless courage. I have seen teenage girls like our very own Zimbabwean girl`s education activist Varaidzo (Vee) Kativhu go from victims to peer educators because someone believed in them. I have seen communities transformed not through grand speeches but through grassroots women`s groups who refuse to give up.

However, even with all their determination and courage they cannot do it alone. There are still thousands of girls like Daisy in remote areas, places who remain invisible because there is no camera that goes there and no resources ever reach. Their dreams are just as valid. Their potential is just as powerful. Yet they are being left behind because they were born in the wrong postcode. These are the girls who need the most and yet they receive the least. How can we talk about equity if the most vulnerable are excluded by default?

Women rise daily to carry entire communities but they are rarely trusted with the resources to lead the change they are already making. Imagine if we funded women like we believed in them. Imagine communities free from violence because prevention programs were fully funded. Imagine a future where every girl finishes secondary school, where she knows her rights and owns her future. Where early marriage is the exception not a norm. were girls like Daisy never doubt the possibility of achieving their dreams as they see the way the world shows up for them.

This is not a far-off dream. Its within reach- but only if we act. Your support can help shift this reality. You can help us keep girls in school, mentor them, protect them from harmful traditions and light the path to a future they deserve.

Your support is not charity, it is an investment in lasting generational change. When you fund women, you’re not just funding programs- you’re funding power, you’re shifting the narrative. You are answering Daisy`s questions with a resounding “YES.”

I invite you to stand with us- to fund boldly, to listen deeply and to believe in the transformative power of women led movements.

With Hope and Determination

Pretty Moyo

Beyond Ambitions Initiative