Hope for Girls and Women Campaigning, Events, Human Rights

Neema Chacha educates 605 at Hope road show

  • Brave Neema spoke about FGM to Natta Villagers

During 16 Days of Activism, Hope for Girls and Women organised filming screenings and roadshows at Natta Village in Tanzania. Through this community outreach work, it was possible to educate and to show the film, In the Name of Your Daughter, to 430 people. In total, 605 people took part in the road show.

Particularly touching was the story of Neema. Our heroine Neema Chacha educated the public about the effect of FGM at Natta Village. We all admire her courage and her empowering words, which illustrated the danger of FGM. She said: “If a girl will undergo FGM she will be in danger of getting diseases like HIV because during cutting a cutter will share the same razor blade with many girls”.

Find out more about Hope for Girls and Women and the important work we are doing to end FGM here.

If you would like to learn more about sponsoring the education of girls like Neema, please find out more about our sponsorship programme here.

If you would like to make a donation, to help us continue running roadshows and educating local communities, please visit this page.

Hope for Girls and Women Campaigning, Human Rights

Cutting season: One girl’s inspiring words

Hope for Girls and Women’s Butiama and Mugumu safe houses in Tanzania receive girls who are fleeing from FGM. During cutting season, which usually happens in school holiday/vacation time to allow the girls time to ‘recover’, there is an increase in cases of FGM. This often leads to desperate girls escaping their families on foot, some to our safe houses. In Tarime, there are two main clans that run the FGM practice, Wairege and Bamera.

During the latest cutting season, there was testimony from one girl who had to undergo an early marriage. She explained that she stopped going to school and got married when she was 16 years old, because her father wanted to get cows as a source of income. She gave words of inspiration for parents and girls:

“People should stop thinking that girls are a source of income, because by doing that, many dreams of girls are being killed.”

Learn more about the work being done by Hope for Girls and Women in Tanzania on this page.

If you would like to sponsor a girl’s education, to help ensure her dreams are not cut short, you can find out more on this page.

VashtS Human Rights

#16daysofactivism is celebrated by Hope

16 Days of Activism takes place annually from 25th November to 10th December. In 2019 6,000 organisations across 187 countries used this time to drive the call for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence. Rhobi Samwell and the Hope team participate in the campaign each year along with girls who have escaped to the Hope safe houses. This helps to educate those in the local community about the dangers of the practice of FGM and to give the girls a voice.

This year, Mugumu Police Officer Sijali Nyambuche educated those gathered about the Law on marriage in Tanzania, which states that a girl is supposed to get married only from 18 years of age, not earlier. This was an important message to share with the community and the audience which included men, women and children.

  • Sijali Nyambuche explains Tanzania’s law on marriage to the audience that has gathered

Following Siyali’s speech, our heroine Rhobi Mwita, shared her story on escaping FGM. It is important for everyone to hear stories like this, particularly in communities where FGM is still happening. It provides hope for young girls who may be concerned they will have to go through it too, but it also shows adults and parents that FGM needs to end and that girls and women are now standing up for their right to make decisions about their own bodies.

  • Rhobi Mwita tells her story to those gathered, a very inspirational young woman