every aspect of a refugee girl’s needs.” iterated Ms. Roadcup. “People often tell me they come to Heshima expecting to feel sad and depressed, knowing what our girls have lived through. Then, the moment they walk through our doors I can see on their faces that they sense the joy. Our girls are survivors. They are bold and strong. Heshima is a "safe haven", a very special place of healing.”
The women at Heshima Kenya receive basic education with standard curriculum, textbooks, and lesson plans. The curriculum is designed to serve young women with various learning abilities, languages, and experienced traumas and allow students to work towards certification while also providing social support and life skills. In 2013, Heshima Kenya registered their education program, called the Girls' Empowerment Program, with the Ministry of Education as an Adult Education Center. This allows them to teach a nationally certified curriculum designed to address interrupted education for young adult learners. The teaching staff at Heshima Kenya, trained by the Directorate of Adult Education, specialize in addressing non-native speakers, illiteracy and issues of interrupted education. Also, unlike the formal school setting, this program provides certification to refugees without documentation.
Of course, at Heshima Kenya, the staff is not only committed to helping these women at the present, they also want to prepare them for the future, and it is the ability to make and save money that is key to empowering women and girls. At Heshima Kenya, the women learn skills like tailoring, financial literacy, and entrepreneurial training that they can use in the future to start their own businesses. The Maisha Collective (Maisha means life in Kiswahili) is particularly special. At the Maisha Collective, women spend two years designing their own scarf styles, learning entrepreneurial skills and living in a healing community. These scarves are then sold on Etsy, at events, house parties, and through bulk and custom sales. Last year, the young women sold $100,000 worth of scarves! This is really phenomenal as this income stream contributes to the overall sustainability of the non-profit. A reported 30% increase in income has led to increased self-confidence, the ability to provide for their families, stronger negotiation skills, and decreased violence in homes. Almost 20% of the girls in Heshima Kenya’s programs eventually resettle to other countries, so many of them end up applying their learned skills to other jobs in new host countries.
Being a refugee means living with the unknown. Can you imagine waking up and not knowing what your life will be like or where you’ll live today, tomorrow, a week from tomorrow, or in a year’s time? Refugee girls are incredibly resilient but they need hope and confidence in order to imagine a hopeful future. Heshima’s holistic model enables them to heal and recover from their trauma, so they can rebuild their lives with dignity. They are bold and strong. Heshima is a safe haven and a very special place. At Heshima Kenya, girls whose lives have been torn apart by disaster are free from violence and abuse, free to exercise their personal agency, and free to love, to grow and to thrive. Freedom!