The Facts
Here at Zion Project, our approach to ending this tragedy is rescue and prevention. By bringing our young girls into a loving home, we are ending the cycle of prostitution in their families and we are keeping them safe from further abuse. Here in Uganda, we are not just an organization, we are a family. And as part of our commitment to our kids, we think they should have the best childhood possible.
Just this month, we moved our 16 girls, and a ton of bunk beds into our new home which provides more space for them to run around in, a bigger yard for playing, and opens up spots for 4 more girls to join us. They are pretty stoked about their new home. We also hired a new Rescue Home Manager named Carol, who is just the perfect person to love on and encourage our girls' self esteem.
Our newest girls finished their first term in school. It is unbelievable that at age 10 and 11 some of these precious ones had never been to school or learned the joy of education. But now they do thanks to you! All our girls passed well and we have high hopes for their future, and continue to do daily tutoring to ensure that they have access to the best opportunities in Uganda. We are excited to see little ones like Mercy be able to write sentences and read out loud to her peers.
Our Imani women who have come out of prostitution, have been honing their skills daily and have now moved onto making school uniforms which will provide them with the income they need to feed and care for their children. We now have the pleasure of listening to over 30 little voices singing each morning in our Nursery School and feel overjoyed that we are able to educate them at their most pivotal point of development.
We can't thank you enough for all the contributions you have made which make this work possible.
Please continue to share with others about the difference you are making in the lives of women and children in Uganda.
Together we can change the world. One life at a time.
With much hope, Sarita
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At Zion Project, we feel blessed to be part of the solution to the ever growing problem of sexual exploitation.
Over the last few months we have been in the process of identifying and bringing in 5 new little girls into our Rescue Home which provides them with safety and love they have never known. One of our girls Nancy, is an orphan who was going to be forced into an early marriage by relatives, at the age of 13, but she showed up at our doorstep, afraid and alone and we were able to take her in.
Since then, we have discovered that Nancy was raped by her intended and she is now 3 months pregnant. We are glad that we have been able to help her through this devastating process, with love, counseling, and medical help. We now have 16 girls we care for daily who are receiving an education which will ultimately change the course of their lives. Most of our girls finished exams last month and we were delighted that so many were at the top of their class.
There are so many little girls like Nancy. In reading Half the Sky, this month, I discovered that over 3 million women and girls are forced into the sex industry. We currently have more modern day slavery today in the world than when Abraham Lincoln was alive.
We have also made great strides these past 3 months in our Imani Employment program for women who desire to escape a life of forced prostitution. We are expanding our program to include the designing and sewing of handbags as well as our beautiful jewelry. We continue to make connections in America and Europe to try and market our products so that this program can grow to hire more women.
Thank you for your continued support in reaching out to these girls and women and giving them hope for their future.
With love,
The Zion Project Team
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Dearest Donors,
Since December, we've had lots of exciting things happen in Gulu, Uganda! We hosted an amazing Christmas party for all our girls at the Rescue Home and each of our 11 girls received a new dress, a nightgown, pretty panties, a beanie baby, a little purse, her own wash cloth, and a coloring book. There was lots of screaming and squeals of glee. The girls are now entering their second year of school and were blessed to have plenty of tutoring over the holiday break by our volunteers to prepare them for this new year. All of our girls passed their exams with flying colors, with some of them being at the top of their class. We have spent the month of January identifying new little girls who are being sexually exploited to enter the home and have interviewed over 11 children and guardians already. We have 9 new spots to fill this year which will make our total up to 20.
Our women escaping forced prostitution at the Counseling Center have been busy making jewelry through our Imani Employment Program. We now have 10 women employed making above average fair trade wages and have just started a savings program this month to help them put their children into school. They are also receiving English classes twice a week to give them more opportunities in the future. The women have made over 800 necklaces since December and are able to provide for themselves and their children. As one of our women says,
"I thank God for my job with Imani because I was crying out to God because I did not want to go back to prostitution for money. I don't sleep cold anymore."
Our most exciting news is that we are finally starting our Nursery School for our babies, toddlers, and children up to the age of 5 years old. We have between 20-30 little ones who we take care of while their mothers are working because most of our mothers cannot afford nursery school fees. We just purchased a large tent for them to meet in and are building tables and miniature chairs for them. We also bought a bunch of toys, blocks, posters and fun things for them to play with. They are learning English, their alphabet, counting, and writing and receive meals. Most of these children would be at home by themselves or not receiving an education, so we are excited to see them grow and develop in positive ways.
We also hosted a HIV/AIDS (Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission) for 40 women in the community and gave gave formula to needy babies, and a 3 day Marriage & Relationships Conference which 80-100 people attended each day to learn about how to have healthy, non-violent relationships. We saw this greatly transform the mindset in our local community about how to relate in love to one another.
Thank you for your continued support in helping us change lives one person at at time.
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