Hawanatu

I was born to two farmer parents and have five brothers. I lost my dad when I was nine, and later, I also lost my mom. Life became very difficult for me as the eldest sister. My grandmother took all of us in and brought my brothers and me to Freetown to begin our education. While helping care for my siblings, I faced many challenges—one of which was early teenage pregnancy, resulting in the birth of my son. It has not been easy—moving from one struggle to another—until I met a YoungLives mentor who led me to the right path in Christ.

I met Jesus in 2018 at a YoungLives camp, and He has truly changed my life. From being a struggling girl child, I’m now growing into a lady who displays Christ-like examples to others through knowing Him. I'm deeply grateful and excited to stay connected with my YoungLives mentors.

My hopes and dreams are to become a great mentor and to focus on my education so I can achieve my goal of becoming a Registered Nurse in my country. I’m the first in my family to attend college, currently studying nursing at Tonkolili District College of Health Sciences. My dream is to start my own YoungLives clubs to speak to teenagers about the effects of early pregnancy and share preventive measures of family planning.