Outreach
Samaritana Gambia is committed to meeting women where they are and earning their trust through offering friendship and presence.
SO we go out to them and during bar visits, street outreach and home visitations we offer a listening ear and genuine interest in their story
It is how Samaritana was started; it is how Samaritan is now and It how Samaritana will always be: having genuine friendships with women “at the well”*, even with those who are still in denial about their hustling for toubabs (foreigners). (*From the story in the Gospel according to John, Chapter 4)
Education and Livelihood
Samaritana Gambia women are given opportunities to make things with their hands to earn a respectable living. They ear n an allowance, if they are on time.
They have been making Recyclable Sanitary Kits for girls and schools and others who have no access to any aids during their monthly periods. Please see Days For Girls drop down tab at the top of the page 🙂
They have been participating in adult learning. Their children are assisted with school fees, largely through unsolicited sponsorship for which we give thanks to our Heavenly Father.
Psycho-Spiritual Activities
We seek to integrate psychological principles with spiritual practices and rituals, making use of art therapy exercises, small group sharing and silence.
Some of these activities are similar to our inspirational time learning at Samaritana Transformational Ministry in the Philippines.
This photo is of a group of women who participated in our project at Shalom Cafe.
It was a safe base to meet, talk and share stories while making incredible Recyclable Rag Bags.
Community Education and Training
Samaritana Gambia seeks to conduct regular training at local schools around the issues of sexual abuse, prostitution and sex trafficking.
We have also held anti-trafficking preventive training activities in communities with at-risk and vulnerable youth.
We have seen some amazing results when visiting schools, using an anonymous question box to encourage asking the unaskable questions.
This Question Box elicits cases of sexual abuse buried deeply within the “culture of silence” in The Gambia.
All the students are completely afraid to talk about this topic because of severe repercussions from friends & family.
Regional & International Advocacy & Collaboration
As the Gambia (in red) is surrounded on three sides by Senegal, Samaritana Gambia is actively involved in building a West African Regional Network of Safe Houses through meetings with similar ministries in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, and one being built in Ghana.
We have an excellent relationship with the Police Child Welfare Team.
Internationally we are linked to the long time established African ministries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and soon Mali, Senegal, Benin, and Ghana, as well as being a member of ICAP (International Christian Alliance on Prostitution) which holds large week long gatherings (every three years) of fearless front-line workers from around the world. 300 met this May at Green Lake in the USA.