How Ruth became mum to 100 girls (including Margret)

No [safe] room for girls

There is a boarding school in Serenje, but it’s only for boys. For young girls eager to continue their education, Ruth says they faced significant risks to their safety. ‘They had to squat* or pay to stay in compounds,’ she says. ‘But, houses in those compounds are not made with any protection. Elderly drunken men would bang on the doors and abuse the girls.

‘If a girl became pregnant, out of desperation, they would join with the drunkard. That was the biggest danger in these compounds: a girl, far from her village, leaving school and becoming a drunkard because there was no one there to instruct or to be a mother to them.’

The church bringing community transformation

Fortunately, the local bishop, Samson, started noticing what was happening in the community.

His church, along with others, had already received support through a Tearfund partner project and started making a difference in the lives of many young people. ‘We were sponsoring thousands of girls and boys to go through school, paying for their school fees, buying school equipment and everything they needed,’ says Bishop Samson.

Inspired by the training he had received from Tearfund, he decided that he and his church should provide a solution for the accommodation problem too. ‘We were paying for these girls,’ he says, ‘but then some were being abused, so they could not continue at school.’

A solution and a safe haven

‘We began brainstorming,’ Bishop Samson says. ‘We had many conversations and decided we could build a dormitory. Thankfully, Tearfund mobilised the resources to build the dorm. Now, it provides a safe haven for girls as they go to school.’

Through the generosity of Tearfund supporters, the church was able to employ Ruth as matron to give the girls parental care and protection. ‘The girls who come to the dormitory are safe,’ Ruth says. ‘We give them counselling and guidance. We also provide cooking lessons, so those who don’t know how to cook can learn those skills.

Inspiring women

‘We sometimes invite women of God and others such as teachers and police officers to come to speak to them, so they can discover their talents and what they can do when they leave school.’

Ruth says she is inspired by the story of Hannah in the Bible (1 Samuel). ‘I love Hannah,’ Ruth says. ‘She is a woman who depended on God. Hannah stirs my spirit to pray. Just to pray. Instead of complaining – just to come before the Lord to pray for this dormitory.’

Margret’s success story

Margret is one of the many young women for whom the dormitory has provided a safe place.

‘I am 19 years old and the third born in a family of five children, she says. ‘My father passed away and my mother is a subsistence farmer.

‘I’m a girl with a dream of changing the face of my family in future!

‘My life has become better since I came here. Because the dormitory helps me in a lot of ways – like being able to complete my schooling here, which I couldn’t have managed living at home.

‘I am proud of the dormitory because it has given me a lot of hope and benefits. It gave me shelter – without which I wasn't going to manage. I would have been staying in the slums alone. It provided security for me from abuse. It helped me in managing my time in studying and I was able to use the library for research. By reading different books, I’ve learnt things I’d never heard before. I could also share notes with other girls at the dorm – and this helped me to attain good results.

‘And the dorm provided time for praying, leading me to know the love of Jesus.

‘I really appreciate the people who made an effort to set up this dormitory, because it helped me to complete my school – through paying my school fees, offering food for me and [giving me a place where] I was able to study properly.

‘My hope for the future is that I should succeed and be able to help my family in many different ways.’

*Squat: to illegally occupy an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building that the squatter does not own or rent.