#IAM BRAVE: The Girls Shelter in Guinea
Update: Hubcast Media Broadcast Media Center in Guinea!
Peter Young, Founder and President of Hubcast Media, was so moved by the story of the Girls Shelter in Guinea, that he asked for us to work together to tell the story broadly. We immediately said “yes!” and we’ve been off and running! Hubcast Media works to bring stories of peace, change, and empowerment from areas of the world that are often not heard from. Our local Guinean artist, Kismet went to Hubcast Media Rwanda to be trained by Peter and his crew on producing and editing videos. Kismet’s first video is almost ready, and it is a music video with the song Kismet produced for the opening of the shelter (see and hear below.) Kismet will be leading the new Broadcast Media Center. Soon Peter will be going to Guinea to produce a documentary on the Girls Shelter. We are excited that The Guinea Girls Shelter has become a catalyst for the development of a Hubcast Media Broadcast Station – a community hub in Guinea that will provide quality video production services that can help support the Girls Shelter and other programs for girls in Kindia, Guinea. Our partners are excited about spreading the word to end violence against women in all its forms and to advance a message of Peace. The Hubcast Media Broadcast Station in Rwanda was the first of its kind, now next in line for 2024 is Guinea – inspired by the Girls Shelter! https://www.hubcastmedia.com/
Thank you to everyone that has invested in making the Girls Shelter dream a reality. We couldn’t do it without you and we, our partners, and the girls we serve are forever grateful! Let’s keep the dream alive and growing – donate now!
The Avon Mattison Girls Shelter is Open!
Pathways To Peace is thrilled to announce that on the International Day of Peace (Peace Day) the Girls Shelter in Guinea opened its doors! Our partners in Guinea hosted a celebration with singing, dancing, feasting, and speeches by local dignitaries who are standing in solidarity of stopping this brutal form of violence. Two girls were waiting and were so grateful to move in that day. The girls are already beginning to envision a brighter future for themselves and have now started school. Our partners continue to be brave and so very competent in their education efforts and their support of the girls. It is not easy to educate against a 2000-year-old practice that is deeply embedded in the culture. 97% of girls in Guinea experience female genital mutilation. The results of this practice are deadly and destructive physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Pathways To Peace is honored to stand with our partners in support of this courageous initiative that gives hope to these brave young girls and will end female genital mutilation in Kindia, Guinea, in one generation! This is peace in action.
Welcome to the Avon Mattison Girls Shelter Tour
Our partners in Guinea put a lot of work into preparing the Girls Shelter for our Girls
The Girls Have Moved into the Shelter and are Taking Steps
to Improve Their Lives and Engage with Their Community.
A Local Guinean Musician Created a Song for the Opening of the Shelter on Peace Day, September 21, 2023
Here is the song, followed by the lyrics – come and dance with us!
Song Title: Stop G.B.V
Song lyrics🎤
Into: Wuu yee yee
We calling on we,
Kismet!! Hahaha
RAP🎤
I speak out for the girls then, that I do,
_Gender based violence must stop for good,
_Advocate for their right and empowerment,
_We must stop early married – forceful married,
_Stop female genital mutilation,
_Sexual abuse and domestic violence – is not the right thing,
_Let’s stop these and stop that -think and do the right thing,
_Girls empowerment we must stand together – speak up together,
_Fight for their right that would make them stand taller,
_Gender based _violence and domestic violence – let’s say it must stop! stop! stop! .
Chorus🎤 _
_Am calling on!! The world,
_Right away! it must stop,
Let’s unite together and say – Gender based violence must stop.
_Am calling on!! The world,
_Right away! it must stop,
_Let’s unite together and say,
_Gender based violence must stop.
Verse🎤
_Am calling on everyone,
_To save the right of the children, _from gender based violence I say!!
_Domestic violence must stop,
_Early married that must – female genital mutilation,
Cute Rap🎤
_Let’s stand and speak out the right of the girls,
_They have voice to speak out their right and that must be heard,
_Not to force them – the right to make a choice,
_Never intimidate them – the right to their freedom of expression.
Chorus🎤
_Am calling on!! The world,
_Right away! it must stop,
_Let’s unite together and say,
_Gender based violence must stop.
_Am calling on!! the world,
_Right away! it must stop,
_Let’s unite together and say,
_Gender based violence must stop.
French version
Out-tro🎤
Many thanks to you Mr. Sylvanus Bangura and your team, and also to Tezikiah Gabriel and her team for your good work.
Kismet on this…
Thank you to all of you who have stood with us in making this vision a reality!
We now have over half of the funds needed to support the Girls Shelter for this year.
Please help us make our budget goal!
Help Us Reach Our Goal
Our Origin Story
The Girls Shelter in Guinea is for young girls who have said “No” to Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage and are homeless as a result.
We are so moved by the bravery of these young girls! And now we must be as brave as they are and step into developing and supporting the Girls Shelter.
The Girls Shelter will not only be a safe place for them to be, but also a place where they will receive care, education, and job training. A place where they can connect with other girls and become a part of a community.
They will be welcomed, and given the compassion, support, and resources they need and deserve to create positive futures for themselves.
Lara is one of the girls who was brave enough to say “no” to Female Genital Mutilation and is waiting for our shelter to open on September 1 st. In this short video, Lara tells her story and expresses her appreciation for Sylvanus Bangura, the Head of the Girls Shelter in Guinea. If you are unable to give time, talent, or resources to open the Girls Shelter, please keep Lara and the other brave girls in your thoughts
and prayers.
The Partnership that Birthed the Girls Shelter
Pathways To Peace has been partnering with THE WAR AGAINST POVERTY PROGRAM in the Republic of Guinea to bring, at their request, Peace education and training to their leaders and educators in the school within the orphanage. The leaders of this program are wise, dedicated, and compassionate with the children they serve. They are also brave. They engage in community education and have risked going against long-held cultural norms and practices to say, “Our girls and women are valued, and we need to say ‘no’ to all violence!” And they have defined gender-based violence to include the cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Child Marriage. They have been bringing this message out into their community. As a result, two young girls were brave enough to say no to FGM, were forced to leave their homes, and came to our partners for help. They have envisioned a Girls Shelter, as they know that with community education, and the first girls coming forward, that more girls will be brave enough to say no and will need a place to go. We could not turn a blind eye.
Inspiration from our dedicated Pathways To Peace partner in Guinea, Sylvanus Bangura, WAR AGAINST POVERTY Executive Director.
The Backstory: Pathways To Peace and THE WAR AGAINST POVERTY
Over a year ago, Pathways To Peace was contacted by the leaders of THE WAR AGAINST POVERTY program in rural Guinea to bring Peace education to the adults and children in their program. THE WAR AGAINST POVERTY programs are located a few hours from Conakry, are locally founded and directed, and have the respect of its community elders, pastors, Imams, and leaders. We have asked them to hold off on educating their community on FGM, as we know more girls will come forward and we need to have a safe place for them to go. The call is urgent!
The community education team in Guinea has encouraged girls to say no to Female Genital Mutilation. The Girls Shelter will be a refuge for young girls escaping female genital mutilation and child marriage.
Pathways To Peace: 40th Anniversary and Honoring Avon Mattison
2023 is the 40th Anniversary of Pathways To Peace. We are dedicating the Girls Shelter in Guinea to our beloved Founder and President, Avon Mattison. Avon ascended almost two years ago. She would be so honored and pleased! Together, we are creating the Avon Mattison Girls Shelter in Guinea.
Are You Called to Help?
THE WAR AGAINST POVERTY is the only organization in the community that can take on this challenge, and they can’t do it alone! We’re standing shoulder to shoulder with them to make the Girls Shelter a reality within the year, and as soon as possible. The groundwork has been laid, and we now need to garner the human and financial resources to make it happen. We know it’s coming – we can feel it in our bones! If you feel called to help in any way, please let us know:
Tezikiah Gabriel, Executive Director
Pathways To Peace
tez@pathwaystopeace.org
651-357-4436
Pathways To Peace
122 Demont Ave E, #173, St. Paul, MN 55117
With your support, we can not only provide safe shelter for the girls who are brave enough to say no, we can
End Female Genital Mutilation in Kindia Conakry in One Generation!
