By Mahnaz M. Harrison | Project Leader
Like everyone else our work also have been heavily impacted by COVID-19. Kenyan government closed schools immediately and since then everyone, including the 1,000 girls we have enrolled in our program, have been under a locked down. The movement of our field officers have been curved. We are not able to reach the girls or their parents at school or large community gatherings. Instead our field officers are going to the girls’ houses, which means reaching them have been pretty slow, but VPack is still the best way of communicating and documenting in these remote villages. To make sure we do not endanger the safety of our field officers we had to run another “friends and family” fundraiser to raise funds to purchase PPE for the field officers and also some soup and sanitizer material for the families that were being visited by our team. The field officers are continuing to inquire about the girls’ fear of FGM and we are learning that overwhelming number of girls 99% of those interviewed (553) for the third time expressing confidence about their ability to speak up against FGM and convince their parents not to cut them. We have also provided the girls information about COVID-19 along with some soup and sanitizers. The field officers must gear up with PPE and we need to fundraise to cover the COVID-19 related cost of our activities.
With your support of our campaign we raised funds and rescued 36 girls, one of them a 9-year old, from the scourge of FGM. We are investing in another 30 cases of girls that are fearful that they will be cut during COVID-19. We are calling on the community leaders and authorities to intervene on behalf of these girls and if need be, we will rescue them to a makeshift shelter. Your contributions helped us pay for these activities, but we really need more funds.
Your contributions made a difference and with your continued support, Last Mile4D can reach more girls and their parents in Kuria, Kenya, informing them about the harms of FGM on the girls and how it impedes their future economic growth.
Please follow us on Instagram and Twitter @LastMile_4D. Also, visit our website at www.lastmile4d.org to learn about our work and make contribution to us, directly during the year. We appreciate your support as some of you have opted to be a sustaining donor, which brings matching dollars from GlobalGiving to us as well.
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By Mahnaz M. Harrison | Project Leader
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