Muwala Mulungi: Beautiul Girls

During the project, it was discovered that most of the girls on the streets of Kisenyi were between the ages of 15 and 26 years old. Most of these were young women who came to the streets at an earlier age and had been living on the streets for a long time. Most of these girls had been exposed to the nature of the streets and were engaged in survival sex work, substance abuse, and commercial trade of drugs. They live on the streets with their children, who also experience growing up in the same environment and culture.

Two years ago, the Muwala Mulungi program was established through the joint efforts of Raising Up Hope for Uganda (RUHU) and Beautiful Response. The program focuses on bringing forth financial autonomy in the lives of these young women by teaching them hands-on entrepreneurial skills for self-reliance. In addition to this, the program provides counseling for behavioral and psychosocial transformation through the support of social workers, volunteers, and trainers from RUHU. By offering a variety of options, Muwala Mulungi has the potential to help empower young women and enable them to take control of their futures in a sustainable way.

While this program is not the only one in Uganda supporting young women in these situations, this program is unique because it is implemented through a transnational feminist lens. All efforts that are made to address the various issues are led by the young women and leaders in the community from a culturally sensitive approach to ensure that their specific needs are being met.

Program Lead: Lydia Mukhwana

Program Goals

• Sexual reproductive health and counseling.
• Medical care and treatment.
• Skills training in areas such as sewing/tailoring, cooking/baking/catering, hair dressing, etc.
• The creation of income-generating projects that empower young women as entrepreneurs and act as revenue streams to the program thus creating employment and program sustainability.
• Business incubation support for the girls who have successfully graduated from the program as a way for them to utilize the skills they have learned and establish a small business.
• Enrollment of 40 girls/month in the program which provides the training of 240 young women/year.
• Rent, utilities, training equipment and materials.