The Faraja Center is a non profit organization in Tanzania, providing young single mothers, human trafficking victims and girls in need with vocational training in order to start a new life. Get an insight of Faraja Center's work.

1. The story of the Faraja Center

2. Dear friend of Faraja,
With this Digital Story Book we would like to give you further insights into
the history, the concept and the daily life of the Faraja Center in Arusha,
Tanzania.
We hope you enjoy reading it and looking through the pictures.
If you have any further questions regarding the Faraja Center and our work,
please contact us: fayowodu@gmail.com

3. The story of who we are
Faraja Young Women Development Organization (FAYOWODO)
was founded in 2006 and is located in Arusha, Tanzania.
First the center was founded for supporting young single
mothers in need with the help of the United Children of
Netherlands. The center started with only 6 mothers in need
and has constantly been growing since then. A few years later
the center also started cooperating with the International Office
for Migration starting to help female human trafficking victims.
In 2013 the Faraja Center was registered as an NGO by the
Government of Tanzania.
We offer temporary residence, education and vocational
training to young single mothers and girls below the age of 18
years. These girls have suffered from early pregnancy, forced
early marriage, human trafficking, poverty, abuse, and a lack of
education.
Our objective is to train these young women in different
vocational fields to empower them for employment and self-
reliant projects.
 This is our permanent staff

4. The story of the Founder:
Martina Siara
Now we would like to tell you the background story of Martina Siara, who
everyone in the center calls Mama Siara.
Inspired by her mother who used to help poor people, vulnerable children
and elders, Martina Siara grew up with the same heart to help the poor. She
also inspired her family to help people in need. For example, she lived with
young girls who had given birth below the age of 18 years and had nowhere
to go. She supported them by counseling and providing them with important
life-skills. Every week she used to train and inspire these young women.
Working for the Catholic Dioceses of Arusha Youth Center, Martina Siara
facilitated young girls classes on tailoring, cooking, health education, English,
and mathematics for more than 10 years.
After that, she was working for another 10 years at Help to Self Help
Vocational Training Center (HSH), following the same idea.
In 2006, after working for HSH, Martina Siara started the Faraja Center with
some of her family members, neighbours and others friends to support girls
and young women at risk and in need.

5. The overview of our work
The Faraja Center, since the year 2006, has been working with the Tanzanian
government through the Arusha City Council and the Social Welfare Office in
identifying young single mothers, victims of human trafficking, and girls at risk
of child marriages who need assistance.
Girls at risk
Young girls at risk are received at Faraja Center throughout the year. They find a
secure place to live, get healthy nutrition and receive medical assistance.
We also try to find sponsors for primary and secondary school education for the
younger girls, whereas older girls participate in the Vocational Training Course at
Faraja Center.
Young single mothers
Young mothers are being identified from the regions Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara. They are welcome at Faraja Center,
together with their children, to start their one-year Vocational Training Course the following year in January. Young mothers at
risk are also received at Faraja Center throughout the year. While their mothers attend class, the children are taken care of at
the Faraja Pre-School or the Day Care Center – depending on the child’s age.
Counseling and Justice
For those girls and young mothers who have experienced trauma, such as severe physical or sexual abuse we offer counseling
with social workers and psychologists. We also work with lawyers in trying to achieve justice for the girls by taking their
individual cases to court.

6. Sarah’s story
Victim of human trafficking and lack of education
Sarah was 8 years old, when her mother gave her away to work as a servant in an urban household,
with the promise that she would be taken to school. However, once Sarah arrived at the household,
she was viewed as a housemaid only and would not be given the opportunity to attend school
anymore. As a victim of human trafficking and child labor, Sarah was not paid for her work, was not
allowed to leave the house, was beaten and insulted, and also starved as a form of punishment.
Through a neighbor, police were informed about that case, they managed to rescue Sarah and
brought her to us.
At Faraja Center Sarah learned how to read and write and at our Pre-School. Moreover, thanks to a
donor that sponsored, we were able to pay for her school fees. Sarah is now in primary school and
performing very well. She will continue to live at Faraja Center, under our support, until she finishes
school and can live on her own.

7. Joyce’s story
Victim of early marriage, pregnancy and lack of education
In the Maasai tribe men usually have more than one wife. When Joyce’s mother became the second
wife of a Maasai man, she was already pregnant with Joyce. Later Joyce should have five more
brothers and sisters. However, Joyce was never treated like the other children. One day her mother
was chased away by the father and his other wives. Hence, the children went to live with another
wife of the father. However, as Joyce was not his biological daughter, her father mistreated her and
also invited other children of the village to beat her with sticks.
At the same time her father started looking for a husband for her. By then Joyce was only 12 years
old. The father found a husband, but Joyce still had to be circumcised in order to be married. After
the circumcision Joyce was married to that older man and had to move to town with him (Female
circumcision and child marriage are both prohibited by law in Tanzania, however it is still practiced
above all in rural regions and by the Maasai).
Joyce was forced to have sex and consequently got pregnant. Finally the neighbors got very suspicious and informed the police.
The gender unit of the police rescued Joyce and brought her to Faraja Center.
When she arrived at our Center, Joyce was 13 years old, she started attending our Pre-School, as she had never gone to school
before, she didn’t even know how to hold a pencil. Furthermore, she only spoke the Maasai Language. With the help of the teachers
and the other girls at Faraja Center, Joyce learned to speak Swahili and was taught how to read and write.
Thanks to a private donor we were able to send Joyce to primary school. Now she is a hardworking student and one of the best in
her class. She dreams of further education which can be fulfilled thanks to her sponsor.

8. Loida’s story
Pregnant after being raped
Loida was 14 years old and an excellent student at her secondary school, until the day she was raped
by her uncle.
After several weeks, she was thrown out of school because her teachers could see that she was
pregnant. At the time, Loida did not understand what pregnancy was, due to a lack of awareness. At
home she was forced to make a statement in front of the entire family, but as her uncle threatened
her with death, she said nothing. Her parents threw her out of the house, stating that she brought
shame to the family. She was forced to live on the street until she gave birth to her child. She worked
hard to survive. One day her mother sought out to look for her and when they reunited, Loida told
her mother the real story. They reported the incident to the police, however, the Police refused to
take action as too much time passed and there was not enough evidence of the rape. Moreover, her
father refused to believe her, calling Loida a liar.
Trying to help her daughter, Loida’s mother heard about Faraja Center and brought Loida and her child to us.
Loida arrived at Faraja at a time where she lost all her trust in people and also had problems in accepting her child. Throughout the
time Loida stayed with us, we offered a lot of counseling time to help her re-gain trust and love her child. During her time at Faraja
Vocational Training school, Loida specialized in cookery. She graduated from Faraja and started to work as a cook in one of Arusha’s
hotels. Her mother now looks after her baby while she is working. Loida still has the dream of furthering her education. Thanks to
one of Faraja’s sponsors, Loida will be able to go back to school and fulfill her dream of becoming a nurse.

9. Arrival of new girls
Every year in January the new courses begin. 30 young single mothers arrive
with their children and during the year more girls at risk are brought to the
center, mostly by the police.
These first days after their arrival in the center for us are the most
challenging. Especially for our social worker, Harieth, these first days and
weeks are really hard, she gets to know all the horrible stories that happened
to these girls and works with them on dealing with it in order to be able to
move on. Some of the girls were hopeless when they arrived at the center
and were already considering suicide as the only way out of their hopeless
situation. Other girls don‘t trust anyone anymore. It is a long process to gain
their trust and also to re-build their ability to trust.
Some of the girls come from very remote villages without any kind of
infrastructure. Some of them are afraid of climbing stairs because they have
never seen them in their whole life. Others don’t dare to touch a computer in
the computer lesson because they think it might be hot. We have to explain
some of them how to open and close a glass window and how to lock a door.

10. Tailoring class
The young women who specialize in tailoring attend sewing classes on a daily
basis throughout one year.
They are taught to use a sewing machine and to tailor any kind of clothes for
men, women and children - like shirts, skirts, ties or dresses as well as
accessories like shoulder bags, toiletry bags and laptop bags.
Also they are trained in embroidery work.
This knowledge enables them, after graduating from Faraja, to either work in the
tailoring industry or to open their own tailoring shop.

11. Cooking class
The young women who specialize in cookery attend cooking classes on a daily basis
throughout one year.
They are taught to cook local food, like Banana Stew, Bean Dishes, Ugali with beef,
vegetables or fish, Chips Mayai (Fries with eggs), Sambusa or Maandazi as well as
international food like Soups (Pumpkin, potato, vegetable), Burger (Beef or Egg), Pasta or
Rice Dishes.
This knowledge enables them, to either start working in a restaurant or hotel or opening
their own small restaurant.

12. Cookery internships
All our cookery students attend a three months internship at local hotels and
restaurants.
Thus they gain practical experience and if performing well they have the chance for an
employment directly after graduating from Faraja.

13. Other courses
Besides the vocational training courses the girls attend classes like entrepreneurship, life
skills, health education (e.g. education on HIV), computer, English and Mathematics.
In Entrepreneurship they learn for example what capital, revenue and profit is and every
girl who wants to start her own business after graduating from Faraja has to write a
business plan.
As the mothers are still girls themselves there is a matron at the center who teaches
them how to raise their children and how to provide them with healthy nutrition.

14. Daycare Center
While their mothers attend the Vocational Training Course, their children
up to the age of 3 years stay at our Daycare Center together with other
small children from the nearby villages.
At our Daycare Center we look after the babies and small children. They
have a safe place to play and rest.
Our three Daycare nurses care for the small ones, feed them and play with
them.

15. Pre-School
In order to enable the young mothers to fully concentrate on the Vocational Training
Course, their children between 4 and 6 years of age attend classes at our Pre-School,
together with children from the nearby villages.
At our Pre-School we prepare the children for primary school. We teach the small
ones Writing, basic English, Mathematics, Science, and Arts. how to write and also
basic mathematics.

16. Volunteering
Volunteers are very welcome at the Faraja Center.
Since 2006 many volunteers from all over the world came to support
Faraja‘s work and did a great job.
Our volunteers look after the small children in the Daycare Center, teach
the women in English or their children in writing and calculating in the
Pre-School.
Volunteers can also support the center in Marketing or assist the tailoring
and cooking teachers.

17. Events
International Women‘s Day
Faraja Young Women Development Organisation was invited by the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to attend 2014th conference
with the theme "Instigating Change – Prevent and Address Violence against
Women and Girls.".
The girls presented their handcraft work and were the audience at a podium
discussion with the president of the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda.
Not only the conference itself was exciting for the girls, also the fact that it
took place in the 7th floor and the girls took an elevator for the very first time
in their life 

18. Events
Games Day
At the Easter weekend 2014 we organized a games day for our girls. They played in teams and
there were also prices  So everyone was excited and made a big effort.
We had very diverse games like running with a waterbottle on the head, remembering items
on a tablet, running over boxes, skiing with 4 teammembers with one giant pair of skis,
running over boxes, balancing an egg and many more.
See the pictures for impressions of that funny day.

19. Events
Graduation Day
After their final exams, the Faraja center hosts a graduation day. In some
cases, we manage to reunify the young women with their families and the
result is that some of the girls‘ relatives attend their graduation ceremony.
Also on graduation day, the young women receive a start-up package for
facilitating the beginning of their new lives. For tailoring students, the
package contains a sewing machine. For cookery students, the package
contains a full set of cooking tools.
All students receive basic furniture for their new home and their first 3
months of rent is paid!

20. Source of funding
All the wonderful work at the Faraja Center would not be possible without the
support of donors.
The Faraja Center works in close collaboration with the United Children of
Netherlands who sponsor the stay and education of 30 young single mothers every
year.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) supports victims of
human trafficking. The project is funded by the European Union and Co-
funded by the United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP).
Also Faraja receives and relies on individual and group donations from volunteers and friends of Faraja within and
outside Tanzania.

21. We love visitors
We hope you enjoyed our Digital
Story Book and that now you have
new and interesting insights of the
Faraja Center.
It remains to tell you that we love
having visitors. If you ever get the
chance to come to Tanzania we would
be very happy to welcome you: to
show you around the center, to give
you the opportunity to see our work
firsthand and to meet our wonderful
girls and their beautiful children.
Warm regards,
Martina Siara

23. Supporting the Faraja Center
If you are interested in supporting the work of our center, please visit:
http://www.thefarajacenter.org/contribution