By Rosana Schaack | Project Leader
Dear partners,
I. Narrative Information:
On September 25, 2011 the THINK home opened its doors to 25 girls and 11 children under-five for the ninth cycle of the THINK home. The girls are from 8 Liberian counties and 1 girl is from Sierra Leone.
With a scholarship from Vital Voices, the Executive Director attended the 2nd World Conference on Women’s Shelters in Washington, DC from February 27 – March 1, 2012 and served a co-presenter on “Improving Shelters in Post Conflict Developing Countries” along with MS. Beverly Goll Yekeson also of Liberia. The experience of the conference was very motivating for Ms. Schaack and she was able to network and join the Global Network of Women Shelters and has shared this experience with the colleagues back in Liberia. She is in communication with women she met at the conference and members of the African Caucus. Thank you, Vital Voices Global Partnership!
Achievements During The Quarter
During the second quarter, the 25 girls began their Business Development Skills (BDS) training in February using the DBS curriculum that was developed by the UN Joint Programme on Gender Equality and Women Economic Empowerment (GEWEE). THINK uses this curriculum with market women in 14 markets in 5 counties of Liberia. The training is designed to have the trainees sit in class for 1 ½ hours, 2 days a week for 3 months. By the end of the training, the girls will open a savings account with funds generated from sales they have been making from their baking, hair or clothing productions.
The 25 girls and staff went for their second field trip to Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. They visited the Buchanan Central Prison, the Juvenile and Women sections of the prison, and the Port of Buchanan.
The THINK Home drama team performed a drama on child trafficking at a community program on Peace Island. The community members and platform guests were very impressed with the message of the drama and the girls were able to express themselves well.
To date, 25 girls are completing work and preparing for their graduation on May 26, 2012, 19 families have been successfully traced, and 7 girls (3 groups) from the Tailoring class have been placed in professional tailoring shops for apprenticeships. When this group graduates, THINK will have put out 276 graduates from the THINK Rehabilitation Home Program.
Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) workshop was held on April 12, 2012 and covered the following topics: HIV and Gender Based Violence, Peace and Conflict Resolution, Making a living, Good Governance, and Family Life Education.
Sporting events with community youth resulted in THINK girls beating one out of three games. During internal games among the classes, the Pastry class always came out victorious.
We are trying to improve our methodology to get better results when it comes to economic empowerment of the girls upon graduation. We are also contemplating on running a vacation program for adolescent girls from the immediate community and charging a small fee to pay the teachers and counselors and to buy materials used in the vocational areas.
The SGBV medical clinic is operating and sees an average of 44 new sexual violence survivors a month since the beginning of the year. 132 SGBV cases were received during the quarter: (January-43, February-44, and March-45).
We thank you!
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