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Girl-Child Empowerment Program Meru Kenya Balm Touch International (BTI) and International Peace Initiatives (IPI) The Girl-Child Empowerment program was formed to respond to the urgent need to support the girl-child, especially the orphan. When parents die of HIV/AIDS, the girl-child is the one most likely to take up parenting of her siblings. At school, girls also have a lot of distractions when things do not work well at home. Emotional and other social issues impact girls more than boys. There is need to empower girls to attend to these challenges effectively as well as to know their worth in the world so that they do not let people take advantage of them. BTI is therefore interested in empowering girls and vulnerable children by giving them life skills. The program was started by a lady by the name Esther, the Executive Director of BTI. She says that “I started by working voluntarily in schools with girls when I noticed a gap in our education system that emphasizes more on academic performance and forgets the social and emotional aspect of the children. I have done this for quite some time now until recently when I realized the need for consistency and follow up.” BTI focuses on the following area: counseling, communication, adolescence reproductive health, self awareness and life skills, study skills, career guidance, etiquette, HIV/AIDS education, how to avoid rape, female genital mutilation, children’s rights, and civic education among other topics. In addition to targeting girls from ages 8-18 years old, the program hopes to train primary school teachers too for sustainability. The idea is to train teachers on how to work with children without ignoring the social and emotional aspect of the learner. Another aspect of the training involves HIV/AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children, who are left without any one to care for them and I feel it is possible to link them up with people who can support their education which I believe could help them be self reliant. Esther says that “I believe this organization has capacity to administer such support faithfully. We are now setting up a center from where all these activities will be coordinated. This is purely a venture of faith but I am convinced it is the right thing to do for me for now with a hope that many peoples' lives will be impacted.” |
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