By Peninah Nthenya | Founder and manager of Safe Spaces
Dear supporter of Safe Spaces,
This period of the year makes you reflect on what has happened, what you have achieved, what you have encountered and experienced.
The predominant feeling I have is a huge grateful feeling for people like yourself you are supporting us. The financial support you provide Safe Spaces also translates in a moral support. It keeps us going, it gives us the feeling that we are not alone and that we are truly supported by others.
In this past year, we have provided all the girls with hygiëne kits: making sure they can keep their teeth healthy, sanitary towels, soap and underwear. But this year we also provided them with desinfection soap and other protective materials because of covid 19. We make our community constantly aware of how to protect oneself against an infection with covid 19.
In the past year where we also lived a lockdown for the better part of the year, we managed to create an online library and a physical space for our girls to do their schoolwork and follow online classes. In the morning we welcome the girls who attend primary school and in the afternoon the girls of secondary school come in. We allow 20 girls at the same time, the space caters for many more but we take our covid protections seriously. This library is a quiet place where the girls can study, concentrate on their schoolwork and make sure they are able to complete their year. We help them with their classes and their homework.
In these times where schools are closed, the girls are at home in the slums which is not a safe space. Teenage pregnancies, domestic violence and other challenges occur on a daily basis. We are coaching the girls more than ever to prevent teenage pregnancies, guide them in these times, talk to their parents, and so forth. This way we try to empower the girls and guide them through these sometimes tense times. We offer them a safe space at our organisation during the day and on weekends.
For the parents of the girls it is even more difficult now than it already was before to provide for the family. Day jobs are rare now, restaurants are closed and these provided the more deprived families with leftover food. We provide food for the most deprived families as much as we can.
The whole team of Safe Spaces, including myself, would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your (ongoing) support this year. It truly makes all the difference. It gives us financial stability and it makes sure we can better forecast our budget. And as I mentioned before, it gives us a huge moral support.
If you decide to support us again in 2021, I thank you very much in advance. It is more than appreciated and it will allow us to empower girls in the Mathare slums and guide them on their path to an financially independent future outside the slums.
Wishing you a nice holiday season,
stay safe, stay healthy,
Peninan Nthenya Musyimi
On behalf of the entire Safe Spaces team
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