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REAL GIRLS, REAL
STORIES
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GCN Alum Linda Bikinesi Shares Her Story
The inspiration that I got from being a member of Girl Child Network led me to pursue studies in Social Work. It was always my desire to safeguard vulnerable children and this is an integral part of my current job ensuring that they are not being abused in any way. Special thanks to Betty Makoni empowering me and teaching me to never give up on my dreams and to have the ability to stand up for good causes and what we belief is right. Yes the “Sky is the limit” and “powerlessness and silence go together.
 We should use our positions not as a shelter from the world's reality, but as a platform from which to speak. A voice is a gift. It should be cherished and used." Thank you Betty for using your gift to inspire me and I am a product of your work. One of my colleagues from GCN said “empowered, dignified and independent” and well that describes me."
Read the full article here.
- Linda Bikinesi, GCN Alum
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$14 ALLEVIATES STARVATION
Political violence in Zimbabwe has been terrorizing the population for many years. One main method: beating and raping women and girls of all ages. Some girls fled for their lives to South Africa or Botswana. They arrived starving and suffering from bruised bodies and torn genitals. A US supporter of Girl Child Network heard about it and gathered her friends and family to raise money for the girls – the
result: $2,600. Esther Saidi, a 20-year old girl who had benefited from GCN scholarships sent news that 143 girls each received a rescue packet containing oil, cornmeal, sugar, soy, soap, Vaseline and sanitary pads. Each packet cost $14 and lasts a month.
GCN used the remaining $600 to give extra cash to survivors who were the most severely hurt.
“Each food kit reassured every girl that despite extreme poverty and starvation in Zimbabwe, there is hope.”
- Betty Makoni, GCN Founder and President
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UNIFORMED SOLIDARITY
By Betty Makoni: I breathed a huge sigh of relief when my colleagues Priscilla and Pippa announced that 10 boxes of uniforms had been donated to GCNW.
When I visited the rural girls clubs we’d built in Zimbabwe, I found girls half-naked and cold or hungry. My conscience shook me because the girls taught me that too much luxury, which I was enjoying by then as GCN Director, was just too dangerous. I asked myself how we can empower girls when their basic needs are not met. I had long forgotten that one day I had walked to the rich girls’ school in a half pair of shoes, and when everyone laughed at me, I failed to excel in any subject that term as I had done before.
Every girl going to school must have a decent uniform or just a dress that will make her feel part of the school and will boost her confidence to succeed. The story of one rural Zimbabwean girl heading to Oxford University whom I met during an empowerment program in rural Rusape has made me think about kind actions we can do for girls—807 uniforms and some warm jackets now in Zimbabwe are being distributed through girls clubs.
It’s quite a symbolic message to girls that education must be attained despite big obstacles. So there we are, ladies—every uniform to every girl does not end only with an actual piece of warm clothing, but it represents the uniformed solidarity of our struggle for equality in education.
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NICOLE KIDMAN PRESENTS BETTY MAKONI WITH A CNN HEROES AWARD OF 2009.
WHY GIRL CHILD NETWORK WORLDWIDE
In many countries today, girls lack the freedoms and rights that automatically accrue to boys. Discrimination toward girls mixes with the harsh realities of survival into a dangerous alchemy that prevents girls’ full development as human beings. In large numbers, girls are subject to sexual abuse and harassment, HIV/AIDS, domestic and military violence, trafficking into sexual slavery, and the denial of schooling.
Girl Child Network Worldwide believes that our empowerment model, built in Zimbabwe, having reached some 300,000 girls, can be applied in many places. It’s based on our experience that when girls receive fundamental support and encouragement from each other, gain an education, and learn their legal and human rights, they overcome a range of challenges, growing to fulfill their potential as human beings and as young leaders.
Girl Child Network Worldwide is the only organization to give general support funds to individual girls in communities where they lack the financial and human resources to mobilize and organize.
We are expanding our efforts to other countries. The UK will be the international hub of training activities and fundraising based on the successes we have achieved in Zimbabwe over the past decade. Chapters will emerge in other countries, beginning with Uganda.
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Girls Empowerment and Education Fund benefits girls around the world who don’t have money to carry out their uplifting projects. The fund will be the first to support proposals...
Read more >
Betty Makoni founded the Girl Child Network (www.gcn.org.zw) in Zimbabwe in 1998. She and 10 high school girls established a girls club...
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Outpouring of support for Taremeredzwa Nomatter Mapungwana ...
Tare's Mum looks at Tare after the operation ...
for
more updates on her status,
click here.
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