By Rhobi Samwelly | Project Leader
We have been extremely busy recently as it is the traditional time when girls become targets for FGM. Hope for Girls is struggling to keep ahead of the families who have the intent to cut their daughters; HGWT is struggling to educate, to protect those taken in and to fund the ongoing Safe Houses.
Yet there is much success to share!
420 girls this season have been helped by the Hope for Girls project to keep them from being mutilated and has helped to educated their families to value their daughters and their health. Psychosocial support and counseling has been offered to all these girls as well as another 147 girls in the community. During this period, the 2 Safe Houses have been home to young girls homed away from families that still wish to practice FGM. While here, the young girls are getting an education which allows them to work towards completion of their schooling series. In addition they are taught skills such as tailoring, hotel management and hospitality, which are marketable skills especially as tourism is one of Tanzania’s main industries. The girls are also learning about modern methods of growing vegetables. This skill will offer life skills and another option to generate income and currently provide nourishment for themselves in their Safe House community and for their future families if necessary.
Some families are not yet open to change. This is why the Safe Houses offer a place: to live without constant fear, with comfort, with food, shelter and water, here there develops a supportive community and friendships. The young girl’s education is maintained and the community encourages the girls to aim for a higher education level which will benefit the community in the long term. 164 girls are now staying in the safe houses. 55 girls are supported with secondary education and full room and board including psycho – social services. There are 59 girls in the younger age category. A healthy, safe and happy girl can become a healthy woman raising healthy and successful children.
Ghati comes from a family of 7 children. She is holding on to the dream to become a doctor! At 16 years old she is continuing her education and is looking for a brighter future than had been the traditional destiny. Communities in Tanzania are in urgent need of trained health care professionals including women doctors who understand the tribal situations and can reach out and help at all levels of sanitation, malnutrition, vaccinations and teaching against tribal customs that are dangerous and illegal such as gender based violence.
One of the biggest challenges is how to spread the word against the horrors and dangers of FGM and to put pressure on tribes, governments and businesses to stop this illegal practice. Rhobi Samwelly has been traveling within and beyond Tanzania to share her message and to garner support for her safe houses. Rhobi spent 6 months in France last year and is building an on-the-ground team of nearly 20 people in France willing to aid in the project of Hope for Girls Tanzania. The movie In the Name of Your Daughter produced by Giselle Portenier has been shown and viewed by over 500 people during summer and fall 2022 at private gatherings and to local groups and has had a huge effect at drawing people in to help in the fight against FGM in Tanzania and now in France.
Rhobi, winner laureate of the Marianne Initiative Award by French President Macron, has the intention to meet up with this year’s recipients of the award in order to continue to share her message with others. The Marianne Initiative Award has been granted to women who are fighting for human rights and especially women and children’s rights, health and education.
Some statistics for this season:
420 girls were helped in both safe houses
255 girls were reconciled and unified with their families
165 girls were not able to go home for security purposes.
55 girls supported with secondary education
59 girls supported with primary education
41 girls were supported with tailoring skills and hotel management and hospitality training.
500+ viewed the In the Name of Your Daughter Film in France
2528 Kg of vegetables were harvested and used for the girl’s meals
79,871 People were reached in Butiama and Serengeti outreach
One unfortunate consequence of our activity to save the girls from the cutting season is that the tribes have extended the cutting to every month of the year. The young girls are not safe in the countryside in the families who are still insisting on this practice. This means that the search and rescue must continue during the whole year, as well as providing solutions for long-term safe housing. This will require more year round work, patience and fortitude going forward. Any and all help to share the word against gender-based violence is very welcome, including organizing viewings of the film and supporting us via GlobalGiving.
We thank you very much that you have been supportive of our efforts this season! Please keep following us on our sites and via GlobalGiving.
Hope for Girls and Women
France www.facebook.com/groups/1861615667510063
https://inthenameofyourdaughterfilm.com/
Sincerely
Rhobi
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