Addressing Community Issues Through Empowerment
One of the communities we are intentionally targeting is sex workers. Many of the women have worked in the sex trade (a very common way for women and girls to earn their living) in and around Mlolongo and some of them are still in rehabilitation. Recent studies have shown that commercial sex workers choose to remain sexually involved in the business despite acknowledging the potential and deadly role of the HIV pandemic. With little or no education, extreme poverty, and the appeal of fast money, despite the danger involved in prostitution, many women choose to remain in the sex trade.
Our organization saw an opportunity to pull women from prostitution and place them in an income-generating program to offer them other options for prostitution.
An income gives our members a sense of independence and an opportunity to provide for their children and their families. We train women in the skills necessary to start their businesses and assist with start-up materials or capital. Currently, our members are crafting school uniforms, taking orders for clothing, attending to clients in the beauty industry, and making jewelry.
