ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:

Wadada Centre for Solution Focused Approach (Wadada) is a registered vibrant young women-led nongovernmental organization founded in 2011 by Kivulini Women’s Rights Organization (www.kivulinitz.org) through its Youth Engagement Programme aiming to empower young girls to advocate for their own rights to live free from sexual abuse and exploitation.  The word “Wadada” means ‘sisters on solidarity’ is purposely used to indicate that the organization aims at empowering young girls to live from sexual abuse and exploitation.

In Tanzania, sexual abuse and exploitation among young girls is widely spread and escalating. Girls, young house maids, girls with disabilities as well as orphans have suffered sexual abuse and rape.  The National Survey on Violence Against Children (VAC) in Tanzania show that VAC is so serious that at the age of 18 more than a quarter of girls (28%) have experienced sexual violence. 

Wadada overall intention is to strengthen the capacities of young girls (in/out of school) with appropriate knowledge and skills to defend for their human rights to live free from sexual abuse and exploitation using “Solution Focused Approach” that emphasizes a client/individual has a solution and abilities to direct oneself life. As the saying goes, who wears the shoes know best where it pinches. Wadada believes that young girls know how their situations can be improved. Therefore, they should be on the forefront in ending it now and the future.   Other strategies that Wadada uses include advocacy in holding the government and community accountable in creating safe environment for girls to grow their full potential, economic empowerment among young girls and public awareness to inform the community on the rights of girls to live free from abuse and its consequences when their rights are abused. 

VISION:

In the community young girls are safer and growing to their full potential free from sexual abuse and exploitation.

MISSION:

Wadada exists to empower young girls 7 – 20 years old to advocate for their own rights to live free from sexual abuse and exploitation through use of Solution Focused Approach, Capacity Strengthening, Advocacy, Entrepreneurship Skills and Public Awareness.

OVERALL GOAL:

To strengthen the capacities of young girls age 7-20 to advocate for their own rights to live free from sexual abuse and exploitation.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

·         To increase knowledge of the Solution Focused Approach among young girls.

·         To equip young girls with self-defence and protective skills, techniques and knowledge.

·         To increase health seeking behaviour among young girls survivors of sexual abuse.

·      To increase number of young girls survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation reporting their cases to formal and non formal institutions.

·         To advocate for policies that will keep young girls safe in and outside of the home.

·         To increase community awareness on the impact of sexual abuse and exploitation of young girls.

·         To provide psychosocial support among young girls survivors of abuse and exploitation.

·         To strengthen programming capacity of the organization

WADADA CURRENT PROGRAMS

·         Girl’s Empowerment

·         Advocacy

·         Provision of services to survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation

·         Media and communication

·         Networking and partnership

·         Community mobilization

·         Resource mobilization and sustainability

MAIN ACTIVITIES

·    Trainings (in/out of school) on: Solution Focused Approach, defence mechanisms, girl’s rights, constitution, conventions, laws, etc.

·      Facilitating girls to acquire entrepreneurship skill and supporting them to start small scale businesses.

·   Strategic use of print, electronic media and community dialogues to highlight the consequences of abuse and exploitation of young girls and the need for reporting.

·    Participation in international, national and local public events to highlights the consequences of sexual abuse and exploitation of young girls.

·      Provide psychosocial and rehabilitation services

·       Introduction of hotline operations.

  

 Our Philosophy

Wadada center for SFA believes that rights are human rights and girls have to be protected especially as most vulnerable members of the society, girls posses the capacity to overcome abuse and exploitation based on their own strength.    

Geographical coverage/location

Wadada works in the Lake Victoria Region (Shinyanga, Mwanza, Kagera and Mara) with its office situated in Mwanza city, Tanzania.

Beneficiaries of Wadada

Young girls, women and female who have been sexually abused and exploited

Our stakeholders/Partners

Health care provider, Police, Kivulini women’s Rights Organization, terre-des-hommes ch, Ant-slavery International, Wotesawa Organization.

Our Main Strategies/Methodology is Solution Focused Approach (SFA): The Solution Focused Approach/methodology used to raise awareness and enable participants across all activities to freely share personal problems, experiences and hopes, and encourage taking of necessary steps to overcome impediments and also bring about a change of mindset. Open discussions of cultural and gender issues will be used to create awareness of rights.

Brief background of Solution Focused Approach(SFA).

SFA was developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg as a therapy module.They both worked mainly with African – Americans living in very poor conditions.Their module was first developed for counseling.

SFA is an approach that focus on facilitating, prompting and supporting the individual in recognizing her/his strength and abilities. It is based on assumption that ‘client is an Expert’, SFA focus on strength that individual have. (That means focus on the things that people are already doing well, also SFA focus on doing level.  This means focus on the person’s behavior. A core belief is that feelings and thoughts are always related to the things an individual does. When we are asking about doing we are asking about behavior that we can actually see and describe.

SFA is based on the expertise of the client. It is interested in things which worked out well for the person and encourage her/him to do more of what works.

SFA does not give advice to individual. Instead it empowers and encourages people to use their resources and do more of what worked. While Expertise is the knowledge and skills that we have that come out of our own experience and learning about our lives.

SF-mindset

‘‘Show me and I will not remember,

    Tell me and I will forget

    Involve me and I will understand’’

          Red Indian Wisdom

SF Mindset is a way of thinking about things. It includes our attitudes to life. People working with SFA are convinced that everybody has resources to make her/ his life better.

The core assumptions of SFA are:

-If it is not broken, don’t fix it.

-If something is working, do more of it.

-If it is not working, do something different.

-Small steps can lead to large changes

-The solution is not necessarily directly related to the problem.

-No problem happens all the time. There are always expectations that can be utilized.

-The future is both created and negotiable

 
Our Staff 
Lucy John Elias (Executive Director and Professional SFA Practitioner)
Anitha S. Dotto (Lawyer)
Christian Noah (Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and Fundraiser)
Elizabeth Mbogo (Vollunteer)
Grace Samweli (Volunteer)

GET INVOLVED:
We kindly invite people from all over the world to volunteer to our organization and share experience with us. Fund raising, Donations such as gifts and grants are also invited for helping women and young girls in Tanzania.

CONTACT US:
P.O Box 11348
Mwanza, Tanzania, East Africa
Email: wadadcenter@gmail.com
Phone: +255 754 284 723
Blog: www.wadadacentretz.blogspot.com