In this special bonus episode Lucy speaks to the inspiring Noëlla Coursaris Musunka, model and philanthropist and creator of the Malaika school for girls, and CEO of Hurr Victoria Prew. Their collaboration is fostering female friendships and empowering young girls.
Education For All
Lockdown was hard for everyone but what we don’t hear about are the stories of those who faced starvation and destitution, simply because they couldn’t go to school. This was the situation faced by students of the Malaika school in the Democratic Republic of Congo only a few months ago. The school, founded 13 yrs by model and philanthropist Noella Coursaris Musunka provides a free and holistic education to 370 girls from the ages of 5-18. Before the school, the village had no water, electricity or healthcare, but since then it not only has a school and community centre, but 20 wells providing clean water. As well as this they provide sports programmes, adult vocational skills and IT classes to around 5200 people. So you can see that this is a much needed and impactful programme.
Women Supporting Women
Post lockdown there is a lot of work to be done. Malaika have partnered with rental platform Hurr to raise much needed awareness and funds for the school and community. I was incredibly lucky to get to speak to Noella and Victoria, the CEO and Co Founder of Hurr on the day the campaign launched. Wear to Care offers renters an opportunity to rent pieces donated by incredible celebrities including Helena Christensen, Thandie Newton, June Sarpong, Eve and Natalia Vodianova, as well as brands such as Vilshenko, Roland Mouret and Roksanda. All the money raised goes directly to the school. Not only that but Hurr are using the amazing community that they have fostered around their peer to peer rental service to encourage women to sponsor girls at the school. The campaign seeks to highlight the power of female friendship and the importance of empowering each other through knowledge, finance and holistic support. We all know that when young girls are given these things, their potential to thrive is improved exponentially. We hope you feel uplifted and inspired by our conversation with these two amazing women.
With thanks to our inspiring guests, Noëlla Coursaris Musunka and Victoria Prew
Mentioned in the episode
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Series Credits
Host Lucy Kebbell
Theme created by Joe Murgatroyd