I’m thrilled to report that girls and projects in India, Nepal and Kenya are thriving! Girls are healing from trauma and building bright futures through education. Awareness is growing in their communities because of their leadership and advocacy. Your love and support are fuel for their fire. Thank you!
HFC has two projects in Kenya: a rescue shelter serving girls in Samburu County, and an education and peer leadership program serving children and mothers in Narok County. Both projects have a strong focus on developing girls’ leadership and giving them skills to counsel and advocate for others. Both projects serve girls from nomadic ethnic groups like the Maasai and Samburu. Child marriage and FGM are the norm in these girls’ communities. Girls are also at high risk for trafficking and exploitation.
In Narok, we just started a second year of Peer Counseling & Leadership training for 84 kids. Children receive school sponsorship support, counseling, and in-depth training to become Peer Counselors. They learn how to listen and support other kids, and when and how to tell a trusted adult when someone is in danger. They learn about human rights, women’s rights and equality. They learn to raise their voices to protect themselves and others.
In Samburu, we support long term shelter care for girls who have been rescued from forced early marriage, FGM, or trafficking. When girls first arrive, they get remedial education at the shelter. When ready, they attend local schools through grade 8. After that, they go to boarding schools, which is the system for all Kenyan students. High school education is not free. Many of our girls go on to college. They come back to the shelter during breaks and lead programs for the younger girls. They are inspiring role models for newly rescued girls. Going to college was previously something unimaginable. The girls’ families live in extreme poverty as subsistence farmers, moving their cattle from place to place. Girls are typically cut and married at 11 or 12, but some are as young as 7. Our girls are forging a new path for themselves and their families and community.
Many of HFC’s programs in India focus on prevention of gender-based violence in very high-risk populations, such as kids growing up in red light areas, or tribal children who have been excluded from education. This is a change from past years, when long term residential shelter was our main focus. Nowadays, the government of India discourages long term shelter stays. We still support shelter care as it is a necessary step to remove girls from immediate danger, provide urgent care, and determine if and when it is safe for them to return home.
Working in red light areas and tribal communities enables us to work with girls long term, to keep them safe and in school, while helping families to stay together. Alongside local partner Hamari Muskan, HFC operates 5 Resource Centers in red light areas of Kolkata. Together, these projects serve over 500 women and children. Some kids come to the Center from morning to night, so they don’t have to be home or wandering the streets when their mothers are with clients.
In rural areas of India, indigenous girls are especially vulnerable to trafficking for sexual exploitation, child marriage, and forced labor slavery. HFC provides a different pathway through our mobile schools. Kids attend the mobile school until they are ready to join mainstream schools. After that, they come to our Center after school for computers, English and arts. Our local partners at Suchana have created innovative handmade teaching tools and books in the children’s native language, so kids can learn in both their native language and the mainstream language (Hindi or Bengali).
These programs work – breaking cycles of poverty and opening doors to higher education and professional careers, and most importantly, to lives free from slavery and exploitation.
The children and teens at the Freedom School, under the guidance of teacher Anju, have begun writing and performing short plays about human trafficking and child marriage, which they perform at school and community events. This is a gentle and accessible way for community members – including those with low literacy – to reconsider their preconceived notions about these practices.
The Freedom School is the dream of survivor-activist Anjali Tamang. Its purpose is to provide education to vulnerable children and change the mindset in the community about human trafficking and child marriage. Before the school came to the village, there was a very high rate of trafficking and child marriage. Over 60% of Nepal’s trafficking victims come from indigenous communities such as this. Nuwakot District – where the school is located – is the hardest hit region in Nepal.