In a small, overcrowded prison on the outskirts of Lomé, Togo, sat Adjoa — a 17-year-old girl wrongfully imprisoned for a crime committed by someone else in her family. With no legal representation and no family support, she had given up on ever seeing the world beyond the prison walls again. She had no access to education, no knowledge of her rights, and no one to advocate for her.

That changed the day the Foundation for Educational Rights Initiatives (FIDE) walked through the prison gates.

FIDE had come on a mission — to provide not only humanitarian aid such as hygiene products, clean water, and nutritious food, but also to educate both inmates and prison officials about fundamental human rights. As part of their Prison Education & Justice Project, FIDE launched legal literacy classes in the prison. Adjoa learned — for the first time — about her right to legal aid, her right to education, and her right to be treated with dignity, even as a detainee.

A volunteer inspector, trained through a FIDE partnership program, took a special interest in Adjoa’s case. With the help of FIDE’s legal support partners and a small team of human rights advocates, they reopened her file. Six months later, Adjoa walked free.

But her journey didn’t end there.

Through a scholarship offered by FIDE’s Girls Rise Initiative, she enrolled in secondary school. There, she thrived, becoming a vocal advocate for the rights of girls in marginalized communities. With FIDE’s continued mentorship and support, she began organizing community workshops, empowering other girls like her to speak out against early marriage and gender-based violence — two issues FIDE tackles under its Women and Child Protection Program.

Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Agbodrafo, FIDE was launching an environmental education campaign in the local primary school, teaching children the importance of tree planting, waste management, and climate responsibility. This was part of FIDE’s belief that education should not only liberate the mind but also protect the earth.

Back in Lomé, FIDE was coordinating a national roundtable through its role in the Law and Order Commission. Policymakers, civil society leaders, and prison officials gathered to review legislation on child incarceration, prisoner rights, and education access. Stories like Adjoa’s were shared — not as exceptions, but as models of what is possible when justice, education, and compassion intersect.

Today, Adjoa is studying to become a lawyer. She dreams of one day returning to that prison — not as an inmate, but as an advocate for girls who have been silenced for too long.

This is what the Foundation for Educational Rights Initiatives (FIDE) stands for — not just promises, but transformation. From prisons to classrooms, from despair to empowerment, FIDE’s mission is a living story — one person at a time.