Happy International Women’s day!
At STEKA we are doing all we can to ensure that our daughters receive the same opportunities as their brothers, that they can go to school without being held back and can find their own employment without being pushed into an early marriage, as many girls across Malawi and the rest of the world still are.
Helen Maseko is the mother of our STEKA family and a brilliant role model for her children. Although Helen has not been able to have her own biological children, today she is the mother of seventy three former street children, who she and her husband Godknows share their home with.
She opened her doors to children living on the street at just 29 years old, after experiencing her own struggles in helping raise her siblings, and since then has cared for 73 children with a variety of difficult backgrounds, 26 of whom arrived at STEKA at under two months old. Now all of these children are receiving an education and some have even made it to college and university!
Helen also plays an active role in her church and is the executive secretary of the Catholic Women’s Organisation, where she is one of the top female councillors offering support to women who are suffering from trauma or mental illness.
Now Helen is working on building a vocational skills centre along side her husband so that her children and others who are unable to access education and training will have somewhere that they can learn the skills to set them up with employment. At the skills centre Helen will be assisting with the Childcare Training Institute where parents will be mentored as well as couples who are expecting children so that they are prepared for looking after their own children and how to protect and empower them!
Happy International Women’s Day Helen thank you for inspiring not only your own children, but many others across Malawi and the rest of the world – we love you!
“Heres to strong women – may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.”
Step Kids Awareness (STEKA) 