Against all odds – Lizzybirth’s unbreakable spirit

When Hope Whispers in the Dark

The sun rose the same way each morning in Victoria Falls, but inside Lizzybirth’s small, crowded home, the weight of life never lifted. Her parents worked themselves to exhaustion just to keep food on the table. School was supposed to be her ticket to a better life but it became a cruel reminder of what she lacked. “There were days I was sent back home because we hadn’t paid the fees,” she says. “I’d stand outside the classroom, watching my friends learn while I walked away with a heavy heart.” Nights were the hardest.

Alone in the dark, she whispered prayers and held on to a dream that felt so far. “Sometimes I cried,” she admits softly. “I just wanted a chance.”

Everything began to shift when she joined Girls Time Club. “It was like finding light after being in the dark too long,” she says. “In that safe space, I could sit, read, and dream without fear. My mentors shared their own stories — stories filled with pain, setbacks, and triumph. Their lives weren’t straight lines,” she recalls. “Listening to them hurt my heart, but it also gave me strength… because if they made it through worse, maybe I could too.” She borrowed notes when she couldn’t attend school, studied alone when others slept, and refused to give up. Step by step, resilience became the quiet fire that kept her going.

When a New Door Opened

In 2024, Lizzybirth sat for her O-Level exams with nothing but determination holding her up. That November, she joined the Ithuba Alumni Club, and once again, a new chapter opened. “I found another home at Ithuba,” she says. “A place where I was reminded that my dreams still mattered.” There, surrounded by mentors and peers, she rebuilt her confidence. She began to see herself not as a girl trapped by poverty, but as someone strong enough to climb out of it.

When the results came, her hands shook as she opened the paper. Seven passes. “I cried so hard,” she says. “Not because it was easy, but because I had fought for every single mark.”

When a Dream Almost Slipped Away

But the battle wasn’t over. Her parents couldn’t afford college. “I had always dreamt of becoming an accountant,” she says, “but that dream started to fade.” Then came a spark — the GSGC scholarship announcement. “It felt like a light breaking into my darkness,” she remembers. She needed an acceptance letter, so she traveled to Bulawayo with transport money her parents scraped together, determined to get into Trust Academy. “I told myself, ‘Even if it’s hard, I won’t let go of this dream.’”

Back home, her mentors prepared her for the application and interviews, walking every step with her. “They believed in me when I doubted myself,” she says. Then the call came — she had won the scholarship. “I cried… this time not out of pain, but victory,” she says. Today, Lizzybirth is studying a Diploma in Accounting at Trust Academy, the girl who once watched others learn, now building her own future.

Her story isn’t just about opportunity — it’s about resilience. When poverty tried to silence her, she refused to let go. “I want every girl to know,” she whispers with quiet strength, “your background doesn’t define your future. You can rise.”

Written by GSGC and YMC Victoria Falls Intern Ratidzai