His mother works as a servant, surviving on barly one meal per day.

Yanela is an only child and is sad that she has no father and no brothers or sisters. She is a determined student and has done well at school. In her spare time, she listens to music and loves to swim. When she is older, she would like to become a swimming teacher.

Alex lives with 8 siblings and physically handicap father. He loves science and social and would like to become a teacher.

Genesis was the best student in her class this last year, and she enjoys school very much. She is the third of four children, and lives with her brothers, sister and mother, after her parents separated last year. She does not yet know what she would like to do when she finishes school. At the moment, she enjoys music and has begun to learn to play the cello at school.

Grace is the third born in a family of four. Her mother abandoned her with her aged father and went with her three siblings. Her father has been supporting her through doing casual jobs but his old age and ailment has made it difficult for him to provide for the family. Grace has been receiving support from her teachers who have gone the extra mile to cater for her needs and school levies. Every evening Grace has to cook for the family and do the house chores. Her only time to study was late at night. Despite all those obstacles, Grace performed exemplary. She aspires to be a journalist in future and she believes in striving to be self-reliant. Grace likes reading storybooks.

Dokes' parents separated, and she lives with her grandparents who are poor and unable to pay school fees

Susan is the second-born child in a family of three. Her eldest brother is in high school. Two years back her mother was diagnosed with a heart disease that has taken toll on their meagre earnings. Their father is a casual construction worker and everything he earns goes to treating their ailing mother. Her elder brother has been out of school due to huge fees balance. Despite the family challenges, Susan has kept her dream alive. She has constantly worked hard in school and her dream is to become a doctor so as to help people like her mother. She believes in Nelson Mandela's quote that education is the greatest weapon that one can use to change the world.

Nancy is a 16 year old girl who hopes to become a doctor. She got a fistula very young and has had several surgeries over the years. The fistula and her family’s poverty have made it difficult for her to be in school continuously, but despite this Nancy performed very well on her year end exam after form 1 last year. She will be entering form 2 but her family does not have the money to pay her fees - Nancy admits that paying for school is so difficult she has considered suicide in the past. She is one of six siblings and lives with her parents, who do not have a source of income.

Joana was born in the city of Beira, Sofala province, on May 12, 2005, where she lived with her parents. She is humble and intelligent and likes to play with her friends and talk about the classes that they started and did not finish in 2020 due to CoVid19. In her free time, she reviews school subjects and helps her stepmother with the house duties.Joana’s mother died on April 18, 2018, victim of illness, while working as a domestic servant in the Maruti. Joana lives with her father who does little jobs of civil metalwork in the area where he lives. What the father earns is not enough to provide for the day - to - day living. She has 2 sisters and 2 brothers; 3 siblings attend primary school and 1 brother is not yet of school age. The house where she lives consists of 2 bedrooms and 1 living room, has an outside bathroom and no piped drinking water. Her preferred subject at school is Agriculture and Joana’s dream is to become a teacher. During 2020, due to COVID 19, the students had to study home, going weekly to the school to buy brochures and copies of tests. Most of the kids could not afford it.