Give a Fresh Start to Young Women in Prostitution

Jane (name changed to protect her identity) is one the women in the current Malkia cohort. Here's her story. I live alone with one of my children. The other two children live with their grandmother from the father's side because we broke up with their father, and I couldn’t afford to care for all of them. I rent a house for which I pay 2000 Kenyan shillings. I work the streets at night because of my current living condition.

My mom died in 2014 due to mental health issues, which affected me psychologically. It wasn't easy for me to accept the reality that my mom is no more .since there, my life has changed completely. I started using drugs to ease my mind, but the stress was getting worse and worse. 

My dream is to quit working in prostitution and start a new life because I do like selling my body to every man. An angel sent the Malkia program to come and transform my life. Since we started the sessions, I have learned so much about my identity and the things that I should love and embrace in myself. In training about drug and substance abuse, I learned how dangerous drugs are and how they harm my body. I also want to quit drugs, and I have begun that journey. I will be taking advantage of the one-on-one counseling sessions that Malkia provides to share my journey with the counselor. My life has become more precious because of everything I am learning; therefore, I can’t imagine how it will be in the next two years. I am curious to learn new skills that will help me be independent and transform from the person I am today.

I hope that this story shows you how your generosity is supporting multigenerational healing for women in Kenya. 

We have had two successful cohorts of women graduating from our Malkia program for young women in prostitution. The impact of the lessons learned was so evident in the way that their lives changed. They invited several of their friends to their graduation and 16 of them registered for this year's cohort.

Our programs team conducted interviews and home visits with all of them and 10 women officially joined Malkia's third cohort. They have had two sessions so far where they've been co-creating their expectations and commitments for the next nine months. They have also been introduced to the program modules and facilitators.

We sense a deep desire for change in each of these women and we see their willingness to drive their own process of reform and transformation. We are grateful to be supporting them through this journey and thank you for your generosity that makes this possible! 

Our team in Kenya has been hard at work interviewing our new cohort at Malkia! We are excited to welcome 10 new Malkia women into Cohort 3! 

 Starting next month, our program will:

• Empower women in prostitution with vocational skills or formal education so that they can achieve their dream careers;
• Educate women in prostitution on their sexual and reproductive health rights and promote behavior change;
• Mentor women in prostitution to be role models and agents of change who will work toward the transformation of commercial sex workers.

Because of your generous donations, we'll be able to provide our nine-month program for these fantastic women! Thank you!

Links:

• Learn more about the Malkia program here.

The women in our Malkia program have beautiful dreams for themselves, their families, and their community. When we think about how difficult their lives have been especially as they have gone through so much trauma working in the streets, we marvel with inspiration at the fact that they have kept hope alive.

In November, we had our last gathering of the year with them. We reflected on the challenges they'd been through and the ways in which they had overcome them. They were inspired by stories of other women who had been through similar circumstances, overcome them, and made a positive difference in their communities. 

We are so proud of their courage, resilience, and vulnerability in pursuing their own healing and in believing that their own journies of transformation will heal their communities. Thank you for your support that makes this possible!

This August we celebrated the graduation of the second cohort of our Malkia program for women working in prostitution. The 10 graduates went through a 9-month training that equipped them with life skills, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to support their journey of transformation. Through the training, the women learned important skills like yogurt and mat making and got insights on how to set up and run a business. They also went through several group therapy sessions that helped them heal from past trauma.

“I personally can attest that my life took a new turn the moment I met Freely In Hope. During the training, they provided us with all the materials required for learning. They helped me realize my true potential and made me understand that there was more to life than I thought. I went through the entire training and today I am empowered, my life has changed completely and I express my sincere gratitude.” Martha, Malkia Program beneficiary.

Thank you for your support that has transformed the lives of these women!