Mauritius: Letters we needed to read – Dear Belle

Letters we needed to read – Dear BelleI was nineteen, scrolling through videos late one night, when I found her. A woman I'd never met, speaking directly into her phone camera about something I thought I was facing alone. She was talking about HS, hidradenitis suppurativa, in raw and educational detail. Her experience was more severe than mine, but hearing her voice, watching her explain her journey, offered something I hadn't realised I desperately needed: the comfort of knowing I wasn't the only one.That night, sitting in my room in Mauritius, I felt a familiar urge. The same one that had carried me through so many difficult moments before, the need to write, to put words to paper, to create something from the silence. But this time, it wasn't just for me. If one woman's story could offer me such comfort and education, what if there were more stories? What if there were a space where young women could find the letters they needed to read?That’s how Dear Belle was born, from that moment of recognition, that "me too" that bridges the gap between isolation and understanding.The letters we wish we'd received: Belle means beautiful in French, but it also became my way of checking in: "Hey belle, how are you doing?" It's the gentle greeting I wished someone had offered me during those moments when I felt most alone. Dear Belle started as my specialty: journaling transformed into letters that could reach beyond my own experience.What I discovered was that HS was just one of many things young women were navigating in silence. The invisible burdens we carry, the questions we're too afraid to ask, the moments when we need someone to simply say, “This is hard, and you're not alone in it.”But Dear Belle isn't just about the heavy stuff. Sometimes we need letters to laugh and learn about the lighter side of growing up. Letters about the ridiculous things we worry about, like whether everyone else has their life together, the funny moments that make us human, or the small joys that deserve celebrating, too.Every letter became both education and comfort, a way of sharing knowledge while offering emotional support that often gets forgotten in clinical discussions or medical websites. Whether we're learning about managing a condition, laughing about the awkwardness of young adulthood, or discovering we're not the only ones who think certain thoughts, it all matters.Across Africa and in digital spaces, young women are often told to make themselves smaller. We're told that speaking up about our struggles, whether about our bodies, mental health, dreams, or fears, invites judgment. That sharing makes us weak. That our stories don't matter in the grand scheme of things. But what happens when we refuse to disappear into that silence?When one story becomes many: The first time someone responded to a Dear Belle letter with their own story, I understood something powerful was happening. It wasn’t just about HS, or even health conditions specifically. It was about creating space for the conversations we're often too ashamed to have, the ones where someone finally says, "me too, I go through this," and suddenly the weight feels lighter.One woman sent me a letter describing how she navigated the constant pressure to prioritise others over herself, learning the art of self-preservation in the process. Another shared her struggles with balancing cultural expectations while pursuing personal dreams, revealing the quiet battles many young women face every day.Then there was a letter explaining the different types of feminism, titled “Is feminism just man-hating?”, a question many young women now assume as the norm. The letter sparked a flood of comments and messages, with readers clarifying misconceptions, sharing insights, and opening minds in ways that went far beyond my expectations.Each story became a bridge, connecting women who had been carrying similar burdens alone, and even men who had something to say in response. We weren’t failures or anomalies; we were part of a larger experience that deserves acknowledgement, education, and support.This is how resistance grows: not always in protests or petitions, but in the quiet moments when one woman’s courage to speak permits another woman to breathe, to learn, and to feel less alone.From personal healing to collective power: Dear Belle has evolved into something I never imagined when I first started writing those letters. What began as my way of processing and sharing has become a platform where vulnerability can become education, where laughter can become medicine, and where individual stories will one day weave together into collective wisdom.As Dear Belle grows, women will not just read, they will contribute. They will ask questions, share resources, check in on each other, and yes, laugh together about the beautifully messy parts of being young and figuring it all out.The letters will travel across borders even when we cannot. They will carry the lived experiences of young African women into digital spaces where geography won’t limit connection. When traditional healthcare might not address our full experiences, and when medical spaces might not feel safe or understanding, storytelling will create new territories of healing and learning.Women will move from being silent readers to active participants in their own narratives and in supporting others. They will start by recognising themselves in someone else’s letter, then find the courage to share their own experiences, wisdom, and ways of navigating challenges that are rarely discussed openly.That’s where the real transformation happens, not just in one story being told, but in a community of stories creating collective power.The education we create for ourselves: This is African feminist organising in the digital age: creating safe spaces for honest conversation, using personal narratives as tools for advocacy and education, and encouraging each other to claim our voices and our knowledge unapologetically.We're not just surviving the silence around women’s health, youth mental health, and lived experiences, we're actively pushing back by refusing to let these conversations stay hidden.Dear Belle will continue to grow into an even more accessible platform for these conversations. As it reaches more women, it will create new opportunities for sharing letters, connecting experiences, and ensuring the stories that need to be heard find the women who need them most.But the real transformation has already begun, in every woman who reads a letter and thinks, "I'm not alone in this," and in every story shared that makes the next woman’s journey a little less lonely, a little more informed.We’re building our own archive of resilience and knowledge, one story at a time.The resistance continues: In every letter we write, we push back against silence. In every story we share, we create space for others to breathe and learn. In every moment of recognition, that "me too" that bridges distance and difference, we strengthen the networks that sustain us and educate us.We are the letters we needed to read, and now we're writing the ones that others need to find.This is how we push forward for equality: not just by demanding it in public spaces, but by creating it in the intimate moments where stories are shared, knowledge is exchanged, and burdens are lifted.Your story matters. Your experience deserves to be heard and can educate others walking similar paths. The letter you wish you had received, about your health, your struggles, your victories, might be exactly what another young woman needs to read today.Join us. Share this story. Write your own letter, to your younger self, to another woman who needs encouragement and information, to the future you’re helping to create. Together, we are building an archive of resilience and education, one story at a time. #PushForward4EqualityWhat letter would you write today? What do you wish someone had told you that might help another belle out there?By Ukamaka Christabel Amazuilo, founder & story teller of Dear Belle, a personal and collective storytelling platform amplifying young African women’s voices.Dear Belle:Website: https://dearbelle.substack.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dear-belle Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dearbelleletters/