Protect Girls from FGM in Tanzania

 Since 2017, when Rhobi founded the organisation “Hope for Girls and Women” to shelter and support people escaping of gender based violence like FGM 3972 girls have been rescued and now have new opportunities to build a better life.

 Thanks to generous donors like you, Hope runs:

•  Two safe houses, providing basic needs such as food, clothes, sandals, bed sheets, mattresses, and also health checks, medications, counseling sessions and other activities like yoga, music, dance and social events
•  Access to formal education, uniforms and education materials
• Community forums to build awareness about women’s rights
• Partnerships and Collaborations to ensure girls in danger can be found quickly - We use OpenStreetMap to map Mara region and empower Tanzanian women - named as “Digital Champions” - to monitor their villages and report cases of violence using smartphones.
• Reconciliations works encouraging and counseling parents to receive back their girls after fleeing from FGM. This process involves police gender desk officials and social services. Families are required to complete legal documentation confirming their daughters will be treated well and allowed to continue their education..
• Classes and sessions of vocational training to support women’s entrepreneurship and learn skills such as tailoring.
• Organising talks to persuade cutters to stop FGM - We work with ex cutters such as Mama Mohabe, who decided to drop her tools and now helps to create awareness to the community on the effects of FGM. She was considered a traitor for a while but after reporting this to the police she is now at peace and happy with her new life.
• Outreach work to share stories and informations about FGM subject and other types of gender based violence locally and globally - We recently showed to community boys the award winning film “In The Name of Your Daughter”. It explores the impact of FGM in Northern Tanzania and the work that we do to prevent it.

 Since our last report we have:

 -219 girls and women supported at the safe houses;

-139 families trained to commit to not cutting their girls;

-146 remote villages monitored in Mara region of Tanzania using the app OpenStreetMap, helping a lot to report girls and women at risk to the relevant authorities

-More than 21 awareness events engaging the community about women’s rights

-More than 100 girls managed to have Formal Education and Vocational Trainings

 Top priorities of the next period

 -Girls rescue camp to protect who are flee from FGM

-Enhance supporting education

-Enhance the reconciliation process between girls in the safe houses and their parents

-Fit families training to support stay with girls and children with light cases to their homes and promote continuous parental care.

 Thank you for your help and generosity!

Many girls in our community have avoided gender-based violence due to the necessary interventions and resources provided through your support. Our Digital Champions have reported at least 36 cases in June alone, and, according to our latest reports, 86 girls reside in our Mugumu Safe House while 59 girls reside in our Butiama Safe House. We have continued to support their education and entrepreneurial endeavours such as tailoring, soap making, and pad distribution.

Our community outreach programs continue to educate locals on the risks of female genital mutilation and attempt to reconcile girls with their families. In June, we counseled parents not to cut their daughters where a total of 140 girls were identified as at-risk in Serengeti.  Our school club programs continue to build a network of students and teachers as well. We have created awareness to a total of 10,500 boys and 12,109 girls during our latest outreach to 22 schools.

Research, community sensitization, and training have also been equally as important. We have been pursuing a Fit Persons program in which we have identified and trained 30 people to provide continual parental care to girls who have been estranged from their families. This program is in its early stages, though in the month of June, 5 Fit Persons have received 5 children.

Female genital mutilation continues to be an urgent issue that festers in our community. We received information that 13 clans plan to start cutting in June, September, and December 2022. These will be conducted in private so we are working with our local partners such as Digital Champions, school districts, and anti-FGM groups in order to intervene.

Your donations make a huge impact in the lives of those in rural Tanzania. Thank you for continuing to support our work and being a part of our more global community.

Dear Friend,

Thank you for continuing to be a part of our global community. Our work in local Tanzania wouldn't be possible without this incredible network.

Our latest reports have shown that 52 girls are staying at Butiama while 84 girls are staying at Mugumu. We're continuing to support their education either through formal education (primary and secondary school), vocational training, or hotel management and hospitality. Our counseling sessions have also been successful, with each girl having the choice of joining individual or group sessions. We've developed a home garden in Mugumu and Butiama through our ongoing agricultural activities. We have also been educating girls on reproductive health, and through that process, we have started producing pads. We purchased 6 sewing machines and have created over 200 pads so far. Our Digital Champions have reported at least 7 cases of gender-based violence, and at least 12 cases are being processed through legal systems.

We've conducted work beyond our safe houses as well. In celebration of International Women's Week, we hosted a virtual careers event that brought together a number of women working across industries, including aviation and wildlife. We have also hosted an event for mapping regions of Tanzania to support our local rescue operations. We are always looking for new ways to continue growing our network, expanding our horizons, and championing gender equality together.

We are continuing to facilitate rescue operations, community education, and reconciliation. We've made many strides but these practices are still embedded in our local regions. We hope that you continue to be a part of our journey as we strive to end female genital mutilation in its entirety.

Thank you!

Rhobi Samwelly
Hope for Girls and Women

Dear Friend,

Our team is incredibly grateful for your support. It has been so heartening to see us come together on a global scale. 

Together we are helping girls to not only recover from difficult moments, but to also think expansively about their futures. Seven girls passed their examinations to join secondary education. Six hundred and seventy two girls were trained on life skills and reproductive health. Farmer groups in Butiama and Serengeti have registered with our roadshow assistance. Digital Champions have reported thirty five cases within a month, all of which have been resolved. These numbers are from our latest report alone.

It’s worth acknowledging the humanity within these facts. These are girls with undeniable, impenetrable spirits. They have acquired the courage to question deep-rooted customs, even when it costs, and these questions inspire their vision of what the world could be. Our work is so vital because together we allow girls to see the possibilities of what they can achieve.

Our work isn’t yet over. We’re currently housing around one hundred and fifteen girls with more rescue operations underway. Our resources are strained including safe houses, community outreach, legal support, and educational opportunities. With your continued support we can prolong our impact, together.

Thank you so much,

Rhobi Samwelly
Hope for Girls and Women

Thanks to your support, and that of their sponsors, we are delighted to report that 9 girls from the safe house have now gone on to further studies to follow their dreams.

Rehema has joined her Pharmacy collage at Tandabui in Mwanza region, and is progressing well. Josephina, Sarah and Joyce have joined their tour guide course at Tumaini College in Arusha region and 5 girls are studying hospitality in Moshi and Zanzibar. Amina will soon start university to further her dream to be a lawyer. We will be posting further updates on their progress here soon.

But many girls are still in need of support to further their education, so if you are in a position to help it would be very much appreciated. There is more information here.

Thanks to you we are continuing to support 175 girls in our safe houses. They are all in education or vocational training. You can see my updates on all our activities here.

We have continued to do our outreach activities to educate our communities against FGM and Child Marriage. This is particularly important as we expect a cutting season in December. Our Digital Champions are a vital part of our community protection networks and so we are delighted that we have been able to expand them to Butiama and Tarime Districts. We have also been able to reach many people by participating in the Serengeti Cultural Festival and African Child Day celebration.

Poverty is one of the drivers of child marriage and FGM, and so we have been training villagers in better agriculture and how to detect pests in their main crops of cassava and maize, using a phone app called Plant Nuru.

Thank you for your support to help our girls realise their dreams.