Face 86.
My name is Rhobi Samwelly. I am the founder and Director of Hope for Girls and Women in Tanzania (HGWT). Hope for Girls and Women in Tanzania is fighting against Gender Based Violence and Female Genital Mutilation.
I founded the organisation based on the painful experience I had as a teenager, a victim of FGM. My aim is to protect the girls in Tanzania, so they don’t go through what I did. Hope for Girls and women in Tanzania runs two safe houses at Serengeti and Butiama District namely, Hope centre Mugumu Safe house and Butiama Safe house. These safe houses provide a temporary place for girls fleeing from FGM to be protected during the seasonal cutting.
At the end of the seasonal cutting, we work in collaboration with council leaders from each district with reconciliation between the girls and their families. The families that agree to accept their daughters back sign a consent form to prove they will not force their daughters to be cut as well as support them with education. HGWT then conduct follow ups in collaboration with council leaders every three months.
For the families that reject their daughters, the girls are retained at the safe houses and continue with their education or vocational classes. After every three months, we revisit the same families for reconciliation again.
HGWT is also creating awareness to the community on the effects of FGM and gender-based violence through usage of different approaches like roadshows, village community forums, peer educators, traditional festivals, school programmes, meetings, trainings and mobile film screening called, “IN THE NAME OF YOUR DAUGHTER’’.
HGWT also supports girls to continue or join with education and vocational training centres.
Your warmly welcome to support HGWT to continue serve girls and provision of FGM education to our community. Please visit our website below for more information.
https://hopeforgirlsandwomen.wordpress.com