Provide Shelter for Victims of Human Trafficking

Dear donors,

Greetings!

It is with utmost gratitude that we once again come back to you our esteemed donors to convey our appreciation for your unswerving support that has seen us assist 26 child victims of human trafficking in the past 3 months.  We would like to assure you that your generous donations were channeled towards a good course, a charity course and above all, a girl child empowerment operation. Human trafficking remains a global  challenge but through concerted effort, we hope one day we shall have a world free of human trafficking.

Rehabilitation services provided at the shelter included; provision of basic needs, psychosocial support, medical aid, legal aid, educational support, home tracing, reintegration/ repatriation, economic empowerment and follow up. These remained our scope of work during this period.

Among the beneficiaries who were offered shelter included 3 baby boys under 5 years of age whose mothers are direct beneficiaries although our intention of establishing the shelter was to primarily offer care and protection services to girl child victims of human trafficking between the ages of 6 to 18.

We managed to build a house within a school compound for the girls with babies in school. HAART has been in partnership with one educational institution which has been taking in most of our beneficiaries. The school accepted to give us a space to construct a house that would host victims with babies now and in future. The house construction was successfully completed and 3 girls are now being hosted with their children in it. This also means providing extra shopping for the girls with babies because the babies diet is different from what is offered in school.

From the month of July, shelter activities circulated around receiving the school-going girls back from school for holiday by facilitating their transport and subsequently preparing them for going back to school early September. The girls were provided with school fees and school levies, uniforms, learning materials, shopping and transport back to school. During the August holiday, shelter outsourced two tutors- one for primary school and another for secondary school to offer holiday coaching to school-going beneficiaries in a bid to improve their academic performance.

This period was also marked by major changes at the shelter which will be communicates in due course. We are working towards transferring most responsibilities to the families of victims to ensure sustainability in the long run.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 26 survivors were offered shelter and had access to basic needs
• 18 girls participated in skills training which entailed computer, handcrafts and tailoring lessons.
• 3 rescues were done during this period and the girls admitted to the shelter. 1 of the rescued girls is expectant therefore receiving maternal care.
• 1 repatriation and 5 reintegration were done.
• 22 girls received psycho-social support..
• 23 children were provided with medical support. 2 of them are physically disabled and have been on weekly physiotherapy sessions.
• 12 girls received educational support. 3 of the girls are with their babies in school.
• Holiday tuition was conducted for the school-going beneficiaries in order to help boost their academic grades
• 2 girls were enrolled in school with their children both1 year old. They live in a house within the school constructed by HAART. The babies have a nanny who takes care of them as the two girls attend classes.

Our goals for the coming months are to:

• Review shelter systems and procedures.
• Move shelter to a secure location because we are experiencing security issues with the current location.
• Home tracing
• Reintegration/ repatriation

We look forward to your continued support.