The Belgian organisation Terres Rouges works to help vulnerable adults and children in West Africa. Its outreach team work in direct contact with children on the streets, and increasingly come up against the problem of under-age girls living rough, falling victim to abuse, rape, economic and sexual exploitation, trafficking, stigmatisation and expulsion. They are susceptible to unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
Terres Rouges decided to take action in 2019 by opening a night hostel for girls and young women aged 12-25 following the example of the boys' shelter, whilst continuing and expanding its work to welcome, accommodate and educate young adolescent women at the existing residential day centre, which houses young orphaned, abandoned or displaced children (5-12 years old).
Each project is built and developed in partnership with local organisations. The facility provides a permanent drop-in centre that employs a variety of staff: educators, teachers, nurse, cook, night guardian, psychologist, social worker - open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The children supported at the centre are aged 4-12, with circumstances such as breakdown of family relationships, abandoned, out of school, rejected, orphaned, abused, victims of trafficking and exploitation.
These neglected and helpless children receive individual support to meet their basic needs: food, health, hygiene, medical care, schooling. The centre also offers a programme of socio-educational activities and individual psychosocial counselling.
Role of the ENGIE Foundation
The ongoing support of the ENGIE Foundation since 2015 has enabled the development of the residential day centre by funding projects year on year, such as fitting out new classrooms and several bedrooms and renovating the sanitary block, which made it possible to increase the number of children receiving support from 30 in 2016 to 40 in 2017, reaching 45 children in 2018.
In 2019, with the construction of the girls' night hostel, the goal is to reach a daily capacity of 70 people in both buildings (day and night).
