Continuing the journey that is greater than herself

Young humanitarian, Layla Mohamed is determined to make 2020 a year of positive impact as she continues her work to address the struggles girls without adequate feminine hygiene products face. Sponsors have been lining up to back the inspiring young lady and they collaborated this weekend to host a three-course fundraising dinner.

An initial guest list of 40 quickly swelled to 90 as supporters from across the country graced the AGS Hall in Florida Park on Saturday 11 January. Sponsors – the Maleking and Billings families – not only catered for the entire event but they flew in two top chefs from Durban to cook up a feast worthy of the cause. A central feature of the dinner was a ‘pledge card’ enabling guests to commit to a sustained relationship with #18girlchild and needless to say, all proceeds went towards Layla’s selfless brainchild.

Layla, at just 18 years old, has had to fight off criticism from her peers that her campaign is simply self-promotion. She gracefully denies this saying, “I am a vessel that God is using to help His children and that is all the recognition I need. My reward is making young girls happy and restoring their dignity. I could compare their ‘thank you’ to gold.”

In an impassioned speech, Layla highlighted three points that troubled her most. “I want to tear down the stigma wrapped around females and their menstruation. Girls should not feel afraid to speak about what they cannot control, and boys should not make girls feel bad about going through something as profound as their menstrual cycle.”

The #18girlchild initiative is beginning to snowball along with Layla’s reputation for being wise beyond her years. Her quest is inspired by her faith and she concluded her speech by quoting 2 Timothy 2 verse 24, “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient”.

Driven by a purpose greater than herself, Layla’s potential is beginning to look exponential.