More than 1 million women in Uganda are exposed to sexual violence every year. They are not taught that they own their bodies or how to stand up against harassment. Of women reporting recent violence and threats, 28.8% cited their neglect of household chores as the reason violence was inflicted upon them. Women in Uganda are controlled by society’s antiquated expectations of them.

On our most recent visit to Uganda, we had an introductory vocational training course that empowered 20 young women.

Lilian, age 23, said, “I thought my life was over and that I had to depend on my husband for everything even if he was beating me almost every day. At first I thought it was okay to beat me because I thought I was doing something wrong. But now I can do a lot of things on my own without a man who does not respect me. Thank you for empowering us. God bless you and your friends from USA.”

We hope to continue empowering young women like Lilian. To-date, in only a short period of their training, the women have reached over 1,000 people in surrounding schools, local farmers’ markets and churches through the advancement of community-led health education programs. With your help, we are working to build a vocational training center so that our girls can have their own space for education and production. Their outreach can then continue to spread and ignite change for the whole community.