SCIAF
Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
19 Park Circus
Glasgow
G3 6BE
Tel: 0141 354 5555
Email: sciaf@sciaf.org.uk
© SCIAF 2008
Registered Charity No: SC012302
Company No: SC197327
Registered Office: as above
SCIAF Christmas Appeal 2011
Christmas is almost upon us. At this special time of year please give what you can to help those who have lived through appalling trauma
St Monica's Gulu Girls' Relief in Uganda is a project supported by SCIAF. The centre provides accommodation, vocational skills training and a loving, safe place for women and young girls. These women have often lived through the ordeals of kidnap and being forced to serve as child soldiers.
These experiences have left scars, both emotional and physical. Many of the women are left traumatised, lack basic education and have been disowned by their family. Ajok was only 10 when she was kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army.
Thousands of girls like Ajok were kidnapped, forced into fighting as child soldiers and to marry rebel leaders. They lived nothing near happy childhoods.
The girls would walk for days with no shoes on through harsh conditions with meagre rations to sustain them. When a child became unable to push themselves any further, the soldiers would force the other children to kill them.
Ajok was given to a rebel doctor as his wife and gave birth to a son. It would be ten long and difficult years before she could escape, at the time pregnant with her second son.
When she returned home, she learnt of St Monica's. The friendship and counselling she received helped her rebuild her life and become independent. Today, she runs a small tailoring business and can provide for her two sons.
SCIAF has helped over 1,400 women and girls through St Monica's. The generosity of SCIAF donors has helped give confidence back where it had been truly shattered and rebuild lives.
This Christmas - please share the joy of the festive season with women just like Ajok. Let them know we are all thinking of them by helping SCIAF carry out life changing work with a donation of whatever you can afford.
The girls at St Monica's would love to hear from you this Christmas, please send a special festive message to christmasappeal@sciaf.org.uk for SCIAF to share with them.
The CNN Heroes film below showcases the amazing role St Monica's has played in the lives of so many women, focusing particularly on Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, Director of St Monica's Gulu Girls' Relief: