Gender Equality Kenya Project #2049

Education and Empowerment for Refugee Girls

by RefuSHE

Education and Empowerment for Refugee Girls

Project Report | Mar 30, 2018
Big Organization Announcement and A Second Chance at Education

By Azra Husejnovic | Grants Manager, and Solange (RefuSHE beneficiary)

Dear Friends,

This quarter we are coming to you with a big announcement! Ten years ago, Heshima Kenya was founded as the first and only organization dedicated to protecting, nurturing, and empowering refugee girls and their children. Now more than ever, our mission to help the most vulnerable refugee women in East Africa is critical.

Today, we invite you to join us in celebration of our new name, one that truly reflects who we serve, our mission, and the future of the incredible young women we serve: RefuSHE.

After an extensive period of research with our beneficiaries, boards, partners, and staff, we are proud to share our new name that reflects the future of our work: RefuSHE. RefuSHE embodies our commitment to refugee girls, and the accompanying logo highlights our gendered lens, global impact, and holistic approach to empowerment.

Our mission, vision, and approach will remain the same and our new name, RefuSHE, represents that unwavering commitment.

You’ll be hearing more from us in the coming reports about RefuSHE and how you can join the movement to empower refugee girls. Thank you for partnering with us in this movement toward holistic care for refugee girls. Keep reading below for this quarters update from our GEP!

In solidarity,

RefuSHE

***

A Second Chance at Education- Solange's Story

When I arrived in Nairobi, I didn’t know the language or my way around. Another good Samaritan helped me out and took me to a local mosque. A local Muslim woman listened to my story and said that I could stay with her and her three young children. Although I was scared at first and missed my family and Ethiopia very much, I grew comfortable and was even helping with everyday chores. The family was relocated to Canada a while after I had moved in with them, and I was left to find a new place to live again. That is when I was introduced to RefuSHE. I was very excited to learn about RefuSHE because they were offering education to the girls that were a part of the program. I missed going to school so much. A young couple in the community offered to take me in and as I lived with them I was able to attend my classes at the GEP every day. I joined Level 1 where I learned Kiswahili, English, math, science, and social studies. I met girls from all over East Africa who had similar stories like mine and I started to feel less alone. I even grew happy to know that I was living in such a sisterhood at RefuSHE. I am in the tailoring class now and hope to graduate and join the social enterprise program of RefuSHE.

I continue to pray to be reunited with my family one day, but in the meantime RefuSHE provides me with everything that I need, and I am happy here. I hope to study hard and eventually become a doctor and help make people’s lives better.

I was the first born in a family of five, three girls and one boy in Haramaya, Ethiopia. My dad was a secondary school teacher and my mother was a house wife. They worked hard to provide for us. We attended a local Oramo school where I studied until grade 9 when my parents split up. This was in 2014. I went home from school one day and found my mother and siblings were gone. I was very sad and cried every day until my father came by the house and took me with him. He said there was a lot of conflict going on and that we had to leave Ethiopia. We took a bus to nearby Moyale. We spent three nights in a hotel. On the last night, my father never came back. I cried and was very scared that he was arrested or worse, killed. Having no money to pay for the hotel or to buy food. I spent two nights sleeping outside and hungry. Eventually a good Samaritan woman came along and saw me crying. I told her my story and she paid for me to take a bus to Nairobi.

Solange (right) with her friend at the GEP

Solange attending her tailoring class at the GEP

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Jan 3, 2018
Education Gives Me Hope For a Brighter Future

By Norah | GEP Beneficiary

I grew up in Ethiopia with my parents and four siblings. My family was part of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). In early 2014, my mother and father were arrested by the government for being a part of OLF. They were eventually released but never came back home. Left alone with no one to care for us, my Aunt took me and my siblings in. But she could not afford to take care of all of us for very long, so as the oldest I decided to go out on my own. I caught a ride from a truck driver to Moyale, which is on the border of Ethiopia and Kenya, and then from there I arrived in the Eastleigh neighborhood in Nairobi.

I knew no one in Eastleigh, so I was forced to sleep on the streets for two nights with no food. I was approached by an Ethiopian man who tried to marry me by force, so I ran away as far as I could to escape him. I managed to find the Heshima Kenya offices and they took me to their Safe House, where I was provided with food and a place to sleep, as well as protection.

I was enrolled in the Girls’ Empowerment Program at Heshima Kenya where I began learning in Level 1. I received no formal education in Ethiopia, so I was thrilled to finally start learning. I was also enrolled in the vocational training class where I began learning skills like tailoring. I now know five different forms of seams and how to draft and sew a skirt. I am very proud of the skills that I have learned, and I hope that they will be able to provide me with an income for my future. This year, I completed my tailoring course and sat for a tailoring exam in December.

At Heshima Kenya, I have found a family. We love each other and live and work as sisters - to support one another while we are all finding our way in a new country. I have greatly benefited from Heshima Kenya, and I am grateful for all that they have provided me with. They have not only provided me with my basic needs and an education, but the confidence and self-esteem that has made me into the woman I am today. I am currently registered with UNHCR and am hopeful that my resettlement case will be approved. I am grateful for the new life Heshima Kenya has given me. Thank you.

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Oct 6, 2017
Empowerment through Education

By Jamila | Beneficiary of Heshima Kenya

Jamila in the classroom

This is the story of Jamila, who is 20 years old and from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She wrote her story by herself in English. English is her second language.

***

I came to Heshima Kenya in July of 2014 after being forced to flee to Nairobi, Kenya from the Congo. I was rescued form the slums by Heshima Kenya case workers, who took me to their Safe House. I stayed in the Safe House for five months. I was given shelter, food, clothing, and a sense of community at the Safe House.

At the Safe House I was also taught to live with other girls from many different countries, and how to be social and interact even though we had all never met. I was enrolled in Level One of the Girls Empowerment Program (GEP) for my basic education the same year. My teachers taught me English and Kiswahili, as well as other basic subjects. In 2015, I transitioned to Level and in 2016 I joined Level 3 where I was registered for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). While enrolled in basic education, I also engaged in in vocational training classes, where I received tailoring and needle skills as well as the skills to tie and dye fabrics.

These skills have helped me join the Maisha Collective where myself and other Heshima girls work together to produce dyed fabrics. We have also gained business and entrepreneurial skills as well as the technical knowledge. The stipend I receive helps me pay for the living expenses I may have, and I no longer depend on food and financial assistance from Heshima Kenya like I did when I first arrived.

I completed my KCPE in 2016 and I passed with high marks. I am currently enrolled in Form 1 of Level Four of GEP and I hope to finish my secondary education in a few years.

I am happy for the education, skills, and family I have received here at Heshima, and I know they will all be useful in my future. I thank Heshima Kenya for being there for me when I needed help the most. May God bless this organization and their staff and continue to help girls like me. I would like to establish and run my own fashion design business when I graduate from the program.

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