SIHA Network together with Days for Girls commemorated the International Youth Day at Wakisa Ministries in Kampala, Uganda. Wakisa Ministries is a crisis pregnancy and counseling centre and currently houses 27 girls aged between the ages of 10 to 19 years of age. Most of these girls are victims of rape and defilement by people close to them as is the case for the 10 year old at the center.
Girls are housed temporarily at the center during which period the center management contacts the parents or guardians to give them counseling so that they accept their daughters back after giving birth. In the months before they give birth they are taken through counseling, skills development projects such as candle making, jewelry making, crafts bags, literacy classes, bible study and agriculture among other things. The ministry also produces booklets meant to guide parents, guardians as well as senior teachers talk to their children and students about sexual education.
At the centre together with the girls we talked about the International youth day, SIHA and what it does as well as Days for Girls, we shared encouragements; leaving the past behind us and looking at our future with hope. SIHA shared food items and kits meant to help the girls during their stay at the centre while Days for girls talked about hygiene and demonstrated the use and making of the reusable sanitary towels to the girls, the center plans to organize lessons for the girls on how to make the reusable sanitary towels.