We have built a shelter for young female victims of violence (gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, rape, etc). We provide the necessary medical and psychological treatment, legal aid, education, and basic needs (food, water, clothing, hygiene) to help these girls heal and return to their families and communities. We need additional funding to continue operating our shelter and providing prevention and intervention programs to address the source of the problems.
Gender-based violence (GBV), genital mutilation, and child abuse are at pandemic levels throughout West Africa, Sierra Leone in particular. Recently, President Bio declared a state of emergency in Sierra Leone after a 3-year-old girl was raped. The First Lady has declared the issue of GBV as her personal mission. These matters are compounded by the intense poverty of the region. At our shelter, we need a clean water filter, dairy goats & laying hens, funds to pay a security guard/driver, & more.
We provide the only access to physical respite, legal counsel, and psychosocial treatment for abused girls in Bo, Sierra Leone. In addition, we provide education & abuse prevention training to girls at the shelter. Currently, 30 staff members provide care for our girls. Our operational costs are high and we are reliant on outside funding. We aim to grow our day-to-day operations and also decrease our reliance on outside support by making the shelter as self-sustainable as possible.
Our shelter houses 21 abused young girls at a time and takes them out of crisis into stability. Our ultimate aim is to end the cycle of violence one family at a time, reunite children with loving caregivers & equip young women with skills to improve their lives & their communities. We seek to make the shelter as self-sustaining as possible and to reduce operational costs so that we can do prevention / intervention work in remote villages.
