Our impact
beyond consulting

While conducting PhD research on child marriage in Lombok in 2016, Laura meets a group of remarkable women leading the fight against child marriage and advocating for children's and women’s rights. Inspired by their determination, she is immediately drawn to support their work in any way she can.

To this day, deeply entrenched social norms still tend to define the roles of women and girls in rigid ways, shaping expectations around marriage, family, and their place in society. These beliefs are often highly institutionalized and thus difficult to challenge. Preventing child marriage therefore requires a shift in how communities think about girls and their futures. Such mindset shifts take time, leaving around 12 million girls worldwide still at risk of child marriage each year.

The most meaningful progress often comes from within the communities themselves: local changemakers, i.e. women and men who are deeply embedded in the social fabric, working patiently to open conversations around marriage, education, and the role of girls in society. Through community dialogue, advocacy, and evidence gathered from their own environments, they gradually challenge long-held assumptions. By shifting how people think about these issues, they create the conditions for behavioural change to follow.

For now 10+ years, we have worked alongside local change agents to organize creative art events where children and young adults learn about their rights, express their experiences, and connect with others who face similar challenges. Over time, this work has built deep trust and lasting personal relationships. Art becomes a language of its own: allowing emotions, hopes, and dreams to be shared in ways that words cannot, and helping young people find the confidence to navigate difficult conversations about their futures.

Felix is living in Nairobi in 2015 when he begins making regular visits to a local orphanage in Kibera, Africa's largest informal settlement. Around 50 young people call it home, from toddlers to teenagers on the edge of adulthood. Their energy, and their hunger to learn not just for themselves but to give back to those around them, keeps drawing him back.

Along the way, he develops a personal relationship with Isaac, an amazing role model for the younger ones from the community, and Pastor James, whose commitment holds the whole place together.

Despite their motivation, the young people at the orphanage face steep obstacles in their education path: no books, a study space too cramped to be useful, and school fees that cut things short before they really begin.

For the older teenagers, the consequences run deeper. Many have never used a laptop, excluding them from most desk jobs by default. Without the education to build on, many opportunities simply aren't accessible.

Together with an architect friend and in close collaboration with Isaac, without whom this would not be possible, we built a learning center inside the orphanage. The kids gave it the name "Rise and Shine". International and local supporters contributed books by the thousands.

A few years later, we added wifi and donated laptops to the learning center, giving the youth the opportunity to adopting the tools needed to succeed. We are proud to report that grade averages and college admissions have gone up, alongside countless intangibles: reading levels, digital skills, and new opportunities.

9 years in, the Rise and Shine learning center has produced a positive difference for many of the 50 youths. This makes our commitment simple: keep it going.
In 2024, heavy rains destroyed around 80% of all books, a reminder of how fragile this kind of progress can be.

Going forward, we will focus especially on the digital side of the learning center, ensuring the youths have access to laptops and the web, as well as al the possibilities to learn that come with it: AI-based learning, online courses, and the vast online world.