By Jessica Brown | Director of Grants and Special Projects
Marie is a 16-year-old girl who fled the Congo during conflicts in her village. Early in 2013, rebels attacked the village and took away her parents, leaving Marie alone in the house. She was terrified, but she managed to hide from the rebels by sliding under the bed. After she deemed it safe to come out, she met some women who were also seeking safety, and they found a truck carrying people from the village. With no other options, Marie joined the women and children in the truck. She immediately fell asleep from exhaustion and shock. When a man’s shouting awoke her abruptly, she found herself in a different country, forced out of the truck and completely on her own. After struggling to survive by herself in Kenya, she was rescued and taken in by a host family. From there, she was ultimately identified and assisted by UNHCR. As she was unable to continue staying with the family, she was referred to Heshima Kenya for shelter.
Marie is currently enjoying her stay at the Heshima Kenya Safe House, where she has built friendships with other residents and is obtaining basic education and counseling. Aside from providing a secure, warm environment for our girls to heal, our Safe House also recognizes the importance that games and recreational activities play. The Safe House residents spend time playing games every evening, including board games, puzzles, tower building games, ball games and activities like “Zumba dance.” This helps the children to identify new skills, learn how to solve problems, improve their attitude toward their peers, develop motivation for life tasks such as learning, exercise creativity, express feelings and needs, and formulate their daily requests and demands. It is observed that the residents who participate in games build their self-esteem easily, develop self-confidence, and gain a sense of self-identity and conflict resolution skills.
Marie loves playing games at the Safe House; it helps her relax with her peers and enjoy her life. She has learned to interact and build meaningful relationships with fellow residents and community members. Ultimately, Marie feels that she has found another family in Heshima Kenya. These activities and games have allowed her to be a child again, enjoy her free time and maintain a positive outlook. Her goal is to continue her education and find a job as a youth counselor, so she can help other young women like her.
“Throughout my life I never owned any toys to play with. My parents could not afford to buy games. I had problems with learning new things especially games because I did not have access to them. When I came to the Safe House, I was surprised to see all the toys and games that I yearned to have when I was growing up. You can have whatever game you want and most of the times we use them as we conduct group discussions to break the ice. I love doing the hula hoop because I exercise my body, I laugh a lot and we share life experiences with my friends a lot too. I love to play and learn different games a lot,” says Marie.
Support from you helps our girls, like Marie, to experience safety, security and to play and make friends like all children should. We thank you for your support!
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