Support 70 street girls and teen/pre-teen mothers.

Centre Marembo through its mission of transforming the lives, has been working hard to improve the nutrition status of not only the direct beneficiaries of the center but also creating awareness to the rest of community aiming at healthy and happy family.

Our activities have been focused on training our staff who, in their daily doings, work with the young girls victims of abuse, teen and pre-teen mothers, and pregnant teens with their babies accommodated at Centre Marembo to make sure that they are able to identify each one’s nutrition requirements and special diet.

As we receive children with various background including former street girls, and victims of HIV/AIDS, they need more attention to recover from sufferings resulted from past bad experience and nutrition is one of the core components of health and wellbeing pillar we focus on.

Nutrition check up

The new 23 young girls brought at the center have been checked to see their nutrition status and the other children also checked to make sure that they are improving or need special diet.

Special diet food

Even if the findings from nutrition check up shows that no serious malnutrition problems registered, the teen mothers and pregnant teens and pre-teens required special diet food as well as the victims of HIV/AIDS and other serious health problems and the children with diet restriction.

With the contribution from GlobalGiving and other partners, we could provide our beneficiaries in need with diet food depending on each one’s health status and problems.

Conclusion

Since the centre Marembo beneficiaries are the part of the community, we remain convinced that we have to extend our strategies beyond the center to help the community. We have trained the youth volunteers in nutrition who are carrying out community outreach program by educating the community what is malnutrition, how to prevent and the special needs for them to fight against underweight, anemia and stunting which are 9%, 38% and 37% respectively at the national level according The 2016/17 findings by Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS). 

Centre Marembo rehabilitation center, since it’s creation, has been working hard to transform the lives of children and homeless children, young girls who were victims of rape and other types of violence in the home and on the street.

Get reminded of our five key pillars which are Health and wellbeing, Education, Empowerment, Access to Justice and Reintegration.

Within this period, we have been investing in the construction of safe homes to provide our beneficiaries with improved and conducive living conditions. However, our capability with some funds from GlobalGiving enabled us to start but we still struggling with the finishing. Thus we need more support and engagement so that our children can relocate as soon as possible.

Reintegration

Apart from construction of safe homes, we have reintegrated the children. As rehabilitation center where homeless and young girls victims of abuse come for rehabilitation, at the end of the time they are reintegrated with some life skills and education whether academic or vocational trainings to enable them live financially independent and create their own source of income.

The reintegration consisted of family tracing and find fostering families where children without parents and biological family can be adopted and live in the family instead of eternally live in the rehabilitation centers. They are also provided with reintegration kits.

Nineteen girls were reintegrated. Among them, three are teen mothers and have been also helped to start new life after rehabilitation with their respective babies.

As conclusion, we are grateful to all those who contributed to our work of helping vulnerable girls, homeless girls and teen mothers and teen pregnant gilrs victims of abuse. In fact, your contributions were helpful, and we hope to collaboratively keep on working hard to help those in need especially young girls.