Girl Child Network
January 1, 2009
Harare, Zimbabwe
For North American parents who hover protectively over their children, feed them organic food, drive them to school, monitor their computer use, and even pes
ter university officials with questions about their children’s wellbeing, the raw vulnerability of girl children in Zimbabwe is almost unimaginable.
Picture little girls left without parents by the AIDS pandemic. Hungry, hurt, emotionally devastated, alone in the world, these orphaned girl children have no encircling arms to comfort them. (Imagine: one quarter of the girls the Network has rescued from sexual abuse are between the ages of three and seven).
Betty Makoni didn’t have to imagine it. This Zimbabwean hero had lived the abuse from the age of six and had overcome its legacy of despair. As a teacher, though, she was torn apart once again to witness the suffering of her female students. She created t
he Girl Child Network (GCN) in 1998, and it has blazed across Zimbabwe with its message of support and empowerment.
More than 60,000 youngsters now belong to Girls’ Empowerment Clubs scattered across the country. They find shelter from abuse, acceOne quarter of the girls rescued from sexual abuse by the Girl Child Network are between the ages of 3 and 7 years old.ss to education, training for self sufficiency. They are given food, school fees and uniforms, and even — in a particularly poignant example of how desperate these girls can be — sanitary napkins and underpants. To help rape survivors heal from the trauma, the Network goes far beyond material help. Art therapy (through art, plays, poetry and dance), plus counselling and career mentoring, are part of the rehabilitation. GCN’s vision is eloquent: that “girls should walk in the fullness of their potential”.
Our Foundation is particularly pleased that the Girl Child Network has aggressively advocated for profound social and attitudinal changes in Zimbabwe, a country currently in political and economic crisis. Despite the odds, GCN is already able to see a shift in social attitudes and a gradual enlightenment toward the girl child. Recently, GCN led a huge anti-sexual-abuse c
ampaign which rallied churches, schools and politicians against the scourge of child rape. The justice system has slowly begun to respond to the Network’s pressure for greater access and fairness for abuse victims. GCN activists have even reached out to ethnic and religious leaders to begin the work of sensitizing them to the rights of girl children.
Despite global recognition of Betty Makoni’s work, many donors have shunned Zimbabwean projects because of the Mugabe government’s poor reputation. Recently, GCN workers have been threatened and injured in daring “rescue operations” to save young children, many of them orphaned by AIDS, from critical situations of trafficking and abuse. That’s why SLF has stood by – and increased – its support. GCN receives an average of 15 crisis calls a day, but is able to respond only to three, partly because of the price of fuel. With the Foundation’s help, the Network will be able to scoop up, comfort and rehabilitate more and more young girls who, even now, with the encouragement of the Girl Child Network, are helping to transform the country’s future.