Supported Organizations
Daughters of Cambodia
Daughters of Cambodia is a non-profit located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Their mission is to help girls and women who have been sold into slavery or sex trafficking against their will and empower them to gain their freedom, with dignity, healing, and a means to prosper. Many organizations that work with women in these circumstances place them in safe houses away from their families and communities. Unfortunately, quite often, these women tend to return to their traffickers. Daughters of Cambodia has a unique model that helps break the hold of traffickers on women in different ways: rescued women live in non-institutional settings where they can maintain connections to their families and communities while recovering; the women receive skills training and are able to fend for themselves through gainful employment at a fair wage, at one of the social enterprises established and operated by Daughters of Cambodia, where they are guaranteed to be treated with dignity and respect; and women get to participate in recovery programs which include counseling to help them deal with their past trauma and experiences, as well as social stigma. The classes provided by Daughters of Cambodia equip women to better manage their lives, finances, and societal pressures. To date, the organization has rescued over 700 girls and women who were once trapped and enslaved.
Modupe Adeleke Foundation for the Alleviation of Poverty
Modupe Adeleke Foundation For the Alleviation of Poverty provides microloans to women in the town of Ilawe-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. The town has very limited infrastructure and the society is very patriarchal, with women often in the lowest levels. Many people are poor, and those who wish to start petty trading or small businesses as a means to self-reliance are often unable to do so due to limited funding opportunities. In 1969, Modupe Adeleke was the first woman from Ilawe-Ekiti to graduate from a university. On becoming a successful educator and businesswoman, she started the Modupe Adeleke Foundation For the Alleviation of Poverty in 2013 to empower women in the town. There is only one bank with a single location in the town of almost 180,000 people. As of 2020, a total of 184 women who wished to start a trade or small business, had benefitted from micro-loans given by Modupe Adeleke Foundation For the Alleviation.
Mary’s Home for Adolescent Girls
Mary’s Home for Adolescent Girls is an orphanage in Lagos State, Nigeria, dedicated to the care of teenage girls living with HIV/AIDS. The orphanage is named after a 13-year-old girl who was the first person in Nigeria to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Mary’s story is a sad one, which unfortunately remains representative of what still happens to young girls diagnosed with HIV in Nigeria today. As a result of social stigma and misinformation which leads people to think that HIV-positive people always transmit the infection to those around them, families abandon and ostracize girls who have been diagnosed with HIV or whose parents have died of HIV-related causes. The locals tend to view HIV as a death sentence and a disease that only affects the promiscuous, all of which are untrue. The proper use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) by HIV-positive individuals can help prevent the transmission of HIV to others and cause HIV-positive individuals to have life expectancies commensurate with those of their HIV-negative peers. Mary’s Home for Adolescent Girls takes in HIV-positive teenagers who have been orphaned by the death of their parents or by rejection and displacement by their families. The Home ensures that its residents get appropriate ART, attend school, and live the most normal lives possible.
No Girl Left Behind Inc.
No Girl Left Behind is a 501(c) organization that empowers orphaned and economically disadvantaged girls in rural Cameroon, through skills and vocational training, scholarship awards, mentorship programs, and the provision of free supplies like sanitary dressings. According to data gathered by No Girl Left Behind, only 53% of children in Cameroon attend high school. No Girl Left Behind’s goal is to reduce school dropout rates and increase the number of girls who are able to pursue and graduate with a four-year degree. No Girl Left Behind believes that education and skill training is the most effective tool to free girls from a life of poverty. The organization’s programs aim to help reduce teen pregnancies and educate girls to resist societal pressure to become teen brides. To date, 401 girls have been impacted by No Girl Left Behind.
