We have a French friend in her 20’s, Marie, who was helping out at a clinic in Bolga to make use of her
nurses training while her boyfriend was working for a company linked to
agriculture. The work was frustrating
for her so she left but in order to keep her hand in some volunteering work she
asked if she could do some work at the orphanage. So we took her to Mama Laadi who of course
was very accepting of this help. As
Marie is an independent volunteer she comes with no funding at all. She asked what I thought she should do. With limited time and resources I suggested
she focussed on the older girls who didn’t appear to be going to school, as
they were a small group (3 at the time) and what she did with them could be
manageable in the day without the small girls and boys getting in the way. I suggested she did some informal education
with them; took them to see hats being
made, weaving etc, talk about the hopes and aspirations, encourage them to
write, and do some maths… generally make them realise an education is important
to get them what they want. Since she
started with us back in November she’s done a fantastic job with these girls
(now 4). The intensive work has clearly worked on a number of levels, a talent
has been found (one is a fabulous Artist) , 3 are being tutored part time with the aim of going back into
full time education and the sexual abuse of one girl has been reported to the
police and she has been medically checked and counselled about it. Also, importantly, Mama has seen the fight, spirit and ability that these girls have that was once hidden behind zero confidence, not helped by many thinking they were 'slow learners' which further encouraged them to hide with in a very thick shell they built around themselves.
Sandy (not her real name) is 14
years old, and has been at the orphanage since December. She has spent 4 years on the street and has
been raped several times. Marie has taken her for STD tests and an HIV
test; everything is negative, only that she has vaginal mycosis. We don't
expect any punishment for the man but we want to show her that this situation
is not acceptable and normal. However, we had to be careful about the version
she gave to the police so they didn’t interpret it as prostitution as the man gave her money
after he raped her. She was begging for
money at a total filling station and the watchman asked her to come, pushed her
and raped her and then gave her money.
It happened a total of 6 times. She
was hungry. Luckily, Marie said that the
policewoman who dealt with the case was very kind and understanding. Marie suspects that she is now selling her
body, but if she questions her the answer is not clear and Marie doesn’t know
how to let her understand that she has to stop.
So, on the back of that Marie sent
all 4 big girls including Sandy (14+ years) to the family planning clinic to
get contraception. All have been given
the implant whether sexually active or not, which will protect them from pregnancy
for 5 years. They were also given a
condom demonstration by the nurse, condoms were brought and it was explained to
them why they were so important even if they had the implant. With teenage pregnancies (many school masters
are the cause of this) and HIV rife in this area we really felt this action would
help the girls positively to stay as safe as they can given the circumstances
they are in/could be in.
Marie has also arranged for 3 of
these girls to be tutored by a teacher at the local teacher training college,
they will receive a lesson of English and a lesson of Maths each week in the
early evening, she went with the children so the teacher could assess their
level, Marie came back saying [in a French accent] ‘Oh, they have found the teacher
funny, nice and awesome!’. So they have agreed to continue, a positive step
given their negative and limited experiences at school. Mama prefers to pay for the school
at the end of the month, but the school really want to be paid before the
lessons to be able to pay the teacher. So we have agreed that part of the
money raised over the summer by family and friends will be used to pay for
this tuition and books for these 4 girls… It’s likely to get them back into
full time education, and in turn could turn their lives around…. Thank you once again for
all you gave last summer.
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