Belief First: The Art of Showing Up for Someone

I didn’t know Victor’s full story when I started supporting him.
He was a young lab technologist in Samburu, Kenya, quietly leading digital skills workshops on Saturdays for children and young people living with HIV.

There was no formal pitch. No grand narrative. Just a spark of commitment and care that was too real to ignore.

Victor has now been accepted into the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to study for a Master’s in Public Health – scholarship pending so fingers crossed.  He still runs the workshops and works full-time. 

Nancy was 14 when I met her in Nairobi. She’s grown into a young woman who is wise, quietly powerful, and full of potential. Not because a system caught her, but because someone believed in her early enough to make a difference.

These two remind me daily that transformation doesn’t begin with data, credentials, or polished applications. It begins with someone saying:

“I see you. I believe in you. Let’s walk forward together.”

Recently, I watched Unlocked, a Netflix series filmed in an Arkansas prison. It opened the cell doors to give inmates more freedom—and hoped autonomy would naturally lead to responsibility.

But there were no tools.
No education.
No structure.
No mental health support.
No plan for what happens next.

They were given space without scaffolding. Freedom without framing.
And many struggled—not because they weren’t capable, but because they weren’t supported.

It echoed what I see in global health and education work:
Too often, we wait for people to prove their value before we invest in them.

But I’ve learned:
Support must come first.
Belief must come early.
That’s how futures are built.

Victor and Nancy didn’t ask for handouts.
They needed someone to trust their will and walk alongside them early.
They are already creating ripples in their communities.

Let’s stop asking for proof before we offer belief.
Let’s build systems—and relationships—where belief is the beginning, not the reward.

Too many people choose not to look. I choose not to be one of them.