Ponelo Kalonga

Ponelo Kalonga is the founder and Executive Director for Save the village Youth Foundation(SVYF) in Malawi. In response to issues facing young women and in recognition of the need for equal access to education, She initiated the Female Youth Empowerment Program(FYEP)with the aim to inspire passion from an early age in order to give girls access to quality education and equal opportunities that goes beyond solving challenges facing them in their communities .Girls in Malawi face challenges to their right and access to education from point of enrollment, through completion of their education.

Save the Village Youth Foundation is working to breaking down barriers that prevent girls from going to school such as child marriages and cultural discrimination. Through weekly girls groups, the girls are brought together in a safe environment, interact with each other, and voice out issues that hinder them from attending school while receiving support to help them make informed decisions for themselves, and help them live better lives, especially through education.

Founding Save the Village Youth Foundation has a personal significance for me because I was raised by a single mother who has confronted homelessness and poverty and as a result of my own experiences, I am is familiar with the despair and frustration endemic to young women struggling to survive.

SFYF is directly impacting young women in Malawi, providing them with life-changing opportunities through targeted initiatives in education, mentoring, and leadership development. The program works to help disadvantaged but academically gifted young girls to attend and finish secondary school in order to pursue opportunities beyond high school that they typically would not have. SVYF does not stop there, it serves 232 young women through weekly girls clubs chats, an after-school program for adolescent girls that builds their core life skills while helping them negotiate the challenges of continuing their educations. Through our network of Save the Village Youth Foundation-trained volunteer mentors, we ensure that girls are fully supported emotionally and academically. I believe that educating girls saves lives and builds stronger families, communities and economies.

Ponelo Kalonga's mentor is Souad Talsi MBE.

Note: Ponelo graduated from the mentoring programme in 2017 and she was 28 at the time.