Eighteen Girls Graduate From Rehabilitation Program
Eighteen girls rescued from sexual exploitation in Lilongwe have graduated from a six-month rehabilitation programme designed to equip them with skills to rebuild their lives and become self-reliant.
The girls, aged between 12 and 16, completed vocational training and counselling at Wings of Hope Safe Home through the Free a Girl Project.
The project is implemented by Eye of the Child in partnership with the Malawi Police Service and the Department of Social Welfare.
As part of their new beginning, the graduates received sewing machines and financial start-up packages to help them establish small businesses.
They were trained in tailoring, soap making, hairdressing, baking and gardening.
Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Mary Navicha, said government would continue improving child protection services and safe homes to protect vulnerable children.
She also urged communities to support the girls as they work towards a better future.
Justice Madalitso Chimwaza warned nightclub owners against exposing children to commercial sexual activities, stressing that perpetrators must face the law.
Malawi Police Service representative, Patricia Njawiri, also pledged continued cooperation with stakeholders to fight child exploitation.
The graduates are the first group to complete the programme following a rescue operation in selected Lilongwe nightclubs on March 13, when 26 children were identified and 18 placed under protection.
Yasin Limu - Staff Reporter, Blantyre
