The Peace and Hope Training Center in Kampala, Uganda, founded in 2006, is an NGO that provides safe haven for young girls with nowhere to go and limited futures. The center trains young girls lacking formal education the basic skills to become self-reliant. In addition to making the colorful paper beads made from recycled paper, the girls are trained in soap making, candle making, knitting, tailo
ring, baking, hairdressing and other handicrafts. Along with skills training, the center teaches English and other languages, accounting, and home management. There are currently 52 young women enrolled in the training center where they are housed if needed and encouraged to attend school. Also endorsed and promoted at Peace and Hope is feminine hygiene education. Many girls are ostracized during this time of the month and the center promotes the use of re-usable pads in order to keep young girls in school thus reaching their full academic potential. The center provides outreach and hygiene kits in the community and rural villages. The profits from these goods and services directly funds education for the girls and maintains the center. Operation and start up materials are funded by grants from organizations such as the LDS church and from donations by individuals. About the Orphanage:
Uganda has more than 2.5 million orphaned children. Many children at the center were left alone, the result of parents dying from AIDS, while others were living on streets having fled abusive situations. Few government institutions are in place to accommodate such children who are then often victimized by enslavement or sexual exploitation, many starve and die from disease. Children of all ages and genders began arriving at Olivia's Peace and Hope Center hungry, sick, and alone. Olivia accepted them and in 2010, opened an orphanage which now houses 42 orphans providing food, shelter, and assistance for school. One of the highest needs for these children, aged infants through 19 years, is desperately needed medical care. Donations to the center are used to pay for these basic needs. About the Founders:
Founder of the Peace and Hope Training Center , Olivia Damalie Sserebira, has been helping those in need most of her life. Compelled to uplift her community, Olivia has worked as a volunteer with the Red Cross, Care International, National Ugandan Council for Children, and was recently chosen to act as director for Days for Girls International, Ugandan chapter: http://www.daysforgirls.org. Annet Kyobiwe assists and support Olivia in the operations at the Peace and Hope Center, she also has volunteered extensively in the community.
