Network Condemns Rape, Promotes Education, Prevents HIV/AIDS
At age 6, a local shopkeeper lured Betty Makoni and several young girls into his shop and raped them. At age 8, she saw her mother brutally assaulted by her father.
Both incidents were kept quiet.
“I pushed my mother to report the violence, but she put a finger to my mouth and said, ‘Shush, you don’t say that in public,’” she says.
But as a young high school teacher in 1998, Makoni couldn’t remain silent.
She saw her female students dropping out of school, pregnant or infected with HIV/AIDS—often from rape, abuse, or coercion by male classmates, relatives, employers, neighbors, or teachers. Sexual violence is widespread in Zimbabwe, and as a result girls are twice as likely to be infected by HIV/AIDS as boys the same age.
To give girls a much-needed voice, Makoni put together an after-school girls’ club with just nine students.
“We met regularly to share stories, and to find solace and solutions,” she says.
That small circle has grown into a national movement; the silence they broke has turned into a roar heard across the country.
Today, 30,000 girls find the strength and skills they need to resist abuse and avoid HIV/AIDS in 500 Girl Child Clubs throughout Zimbabwe.
The Girl Child Network (GCN), founded and directed by Makoni, provides emergency services to more than 2,000 abused girls each year, raises community awareness, lobbies government to protect girls, and trains leaders for the 500 clubs.
International Acclaim
For GCN’s accomplishments, Makoni was recognized as one of CNN’s 2009 Heroes and has received numerous international awards, including from Amnesty International and the UN Development Programme.
Firelight Foundation recognized the potential of GCN’s grassroots approach early on, and became one of the network’s early international donors in 2001.
Firelight provided start up funds and ongoing support for one of GCN’s strategically located safe houses, called “Empowerment Villages.” At each of these temporary homes, 60 girls each month receive medical care, legal aid, and counseling as they recover from abuse.
One abused girl walked 45 kilometers alone to a GCN Empowerment Village because she knew the help she needed was there.
About one in four girls who seek refuge at the GCN Empowerment Villages are HIV-positive. In 2002, GCN began providing post-exposure medications to prevent HIV.
As understanding of the benefits of the medication grows, rape is more quickly reported and HIV prevented, says Makoni.
Firelight has also supported GCN’s 24-hour emergency services to girls who have been abused or are at risk of abuse.
“We accompany them to the police, social welfare agencies, counseling and other services,” says Makoni. “So they don’t have to look to would-be perpetrators, we provide school fees for dropouts and other material assistance.”
A New Breed of Empowered Girls
The school-based girls’ clubs—numbering 500 and still growing—are the backbone of the organization. The 30,000 girls meet regularly to learn about their rights, how to handle potential abusers, and how to report abuse. The clubs provide a forum to discuss their problems and set goals for a better future. Firelight has funded workshops for club members on HIV prevention and leadership skills, aimed at turning girls from “victims into leaders.”
“A new breed of girls is emerging that is confident and fully aware of their rights,” says Makoni.
The number of girls reporting rape to authorities has doubled in recent years, a sign of the climate change GCN has fostered.
The clubs also offer the girls income-earning activities that build self-esteem and raise money for school fees. The funds have prevented thousands of club members from dropping out of school. Firelight has provided start-up costs for girl club-run projects to raise poultry, start vegetable gardens, and sell school supplies and snacks.
The group’s advocacy and outreach is designed to help create safe communities by raising awareness and promoting community-wide prevention. The organization has pushed for the prosecution of sexual offenders and works to foster a culture of accountability and environment of respect.
“Perpetrators who used to be shielded by patriarchy are being named and shamed,” says Makoni.
GCN pressured the Zimbabwean media to report on abuse cases and trials and portray girls in a more positive light.
She points to two instances where community members dragged suspected rapists to GCN’s Empowerment Villages and from there, handed them over to police, a sign of the impact the awareness campaigns have had on community attitudes.
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Great story on Betty Makoni and her drive to start after school clubs for girls. It was great reading about the 500 clubs in Zimbabwe — so good that I wondered whether this is happening beyond Zimbabwe. Are there other Firelight-funded groups that do this? It would be great to hear directly from them about their experiences. It also would be great to hear if Makoni is trying to replicate these clubs in other countries — and if so, whether it has been difficult and easy, and why.
The Girl Child Network is indeed having impact beyond Zimbabwe! Firelight funds at least three other organizations in Zimbabwe who are using the GCN model to respond to and prevent sexual abuse, and empower girls. Regionally, the GCN model is being replicated in Swaziland, Malawi, and South Africa. While none of these efforts have achieved the reach and impact seen in Zimbabwe, they continue to strengthen their results.
And GCN is poised to shape the work of organizations in other parts of Africa and internationally. In a recent gathering of 19 organizations from 9 countries working on prevention of violence against children, a number of Firelight grantee partners expressed interest in visiting GCN for a firsthand learning experience of GCN’s program and Empowerment Villages. In addition, Betty has launched GCN Worldwide, which is reaching beyond the continent of Africa to support and empower girls. Stay tuned for future updates on GCN and the lessons of other organizations trying to replicate the model.
What a truely inspiring story. Its amazing that the news does not focus more on groups and stories such as these as oppose to the usual run of the mill highlights of a new coffee shop opening.
Thank you for your hardwork and dedication to making a difference, not only in these young girls lifes but to all who take the time to find out more!
Great story indeed! By finding her own voice, Makoni has given a voice to thousands of girls. This is a very important strategy especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where in most cases, children speak through their elders, so if it is an issue where the very elders who are symbols of protection have abused the child, silence is resorted to. And again, African communities are generally closed societies especially with regard to sexual matters, that you don’t talk about them in public, let alone with a child. So little girls may be raped or abused in different ways, and the perpetrators know that the likelihood that the victim will talk about it is almost non-existent. Thank God for organizations like GCN, through which children are finding their own voice, thereby making their communities more open. By learning from the experiences of others, girls will escape exploitation and even be prevented from contracting HIV/AIDS out of unbecoming relationships or encounters. Keep on supporting such kind of endeavors, Firelight Foundation!
dear Betty Makoni,i really appreciate what you are doing for these young people.may jesus,continue to bless your continuing efforts,to create change in peoples lives.i watched the documentary,and was disturbed into anger.and was deeply emotionally moved.iam not sure exactly what i can do.because i do’nt have much money.the company,that i work for recently filed for bankrupty.and iam not certain that i will still be working.however,i care.my name is larry.god bless you.