A Day in the Life of Hope for Women and Girls Tanzania: Q2 2023
The quarterly overview provides the reader with insight into some of the activities undertaken by Hope for Girls and Women Tanzania and Rhobi Samwelly.
Julius Nyerere served as the President of Tanzania for the period 1964 to 1985. He was born in Butiama, one of the villages where HGWT has a safe house. HGWT was invited to give a presentation on the rights of women and children in the village of Butiama. Angelina (a girl rescued by HGWT), shared her experience of being saved from Female Genital Mutilation, being able to further her studies in Community Development, and the the importance of protecting girls and women’s rights in the community. Angelina’ s dream is to become a social worker after finishing her course.
The importance of including girls in STEM education was celebrated on April 27, ICT day. Giving girls the opportunity to access technology will help and contribute to Africa’s digital growth while also bridging the digital and gender divide. Involving girls in ICT can lead to more innovative and creative solutions to the challenges facing society today. There is an excellent collaboration with My Little Zen and Cisco Networking Academy which will be discussed in a later blog posts.
International Day of Families is an important moment to highlight the importance of community involvement, especially the Fit Families program which is geared towards the training of community members to become foster parents. Helping to build a supportive and loving community whilst contributing to our goal of educating on FGM.
Period poverty is an enormous challenge in Tanzania, impacting (according to a 2018 survey) approximately 60% of women and girls in Tanzania. Menstrual Health Hygiene Day therefore is an important moment to create awareness about the issue. Girls at HGWT are taught how to make reusable sanitary pads, ensuring they have access to proper sanitary products, which are also environmentally friendly! This also equips the girls with vocational skills such as sewing which they can go onto to use in the future.
A highlight of the past few months was Rhobi Samwelly receiving the Uhuru Torch as it passed through Serengeti celebrating the inauguration of government projects. The Uhuru Torch is one of the national symbols of Tanzania, representing freedom and light. Since 1961 the torch has been carried through Tanzania each year, passing through all the districts to enhance development activities. The 2023 focus is raising awareness on Gender-Based Violence, Climate Change and Environmental Conservation and Preventing Corruption. The torch calls upon government and community leaders & different stakeholders to work together to create solutions for these issues.
