Erica’s story: standing out, standing up

“If I can change the lives of so many girls in my community,” Erica figures, “why can’t I change my own life?”

This self-confidence has carried her through setbacks and tragedy and keeps her optimistic about the future.

At 23, Erica leads a girls’ club in northeastern Mozambique. She’s focused on inspiring the young girls under her mentorship to make positive changes in their lives and community. It’s the type of work she’s dreamed of since she was a teen herself.

Every Girl Can push for gender equality

The girls’ club is part of Every Girl Can*, a project working to advance gender equality and reduce sexual and gender-based violence in Mozambique’s Nampula province.

In Mozambique, the latest data shows nearly half of women aged 20–24 were married before they turned 18, while 16 per cent of women aged 15–49 experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner in the last year. During Gender Equality Week, these realities underscore why projects like Every Girl Can are so critical.

The project empowers adolescent girls and young women as vital players in the solution, while also engaging with government systems and the people who form their world—their parents, teachers, religious and traditional leaders, and especially boys and men. This helps to ensure that the changes in community structures, attitudes and behaviours are deep and lasting.

As a girls’ group leader, Erica works to create a safe environment where girls come to learn about their rights, share their experiences and build confidence to engage in their communities.

The right woman for the job

Erica is a great pick to lead a group of girls. She has an optimistic outlook. She’s a passionate singer of gospel music. She loves to watch movies in her free time and with six brothers, she’s had plenty of practice speaking up for herself.

Yet, as is undoubtedly true of at least some girls she leads, Erica has walked through heartbreak, loss and loneliness.

She lives with albinism, a condition that makes her stand out starkly from her peers. She’s also an orphan. After losing her parents, she and her six brothers now live with their single aunt, a schoolteacher whose salary barely stretches over the household needs.

Erica and her brothers know what it’s like to go without clothes and food. Because of the financial constraints, Erica’s schooling came to an abrupt halt when she finished Grade 12 in 2022—she would have loved to continue.

Even so, Erica is persistent about what’s possible. She has faith that things will get better in God’s timing, but in the meanwhile, she believes she should do her part to keep “fighting for the doors to open.”

Her goal is to become a full-blown social activist, expanding her reach to more and more girls. Her sights are set on transforming her community—and perhaps beyond—in an undeniable way.

* Every Girl Can is funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented in partnership with HOPEM, Action Aid and World Vision Mozambique.