Greetings from Courage House in Dar es Salaam, on the coast of Tanzania, East Africa!
Courage House Dar is already 18 months old! It's been exciting for us to replicate Courage House in Tanzania and open a second home for child survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation. We are blessed with an amazing Executive Director, Suzan Shoo, who worked at our Courage House in Moshi for several years before relocating to Dar. She's assembled a fantastic team of staff who are professional, compassionate, hard-working, and loving to our girls who are currently between 11 and 17-years-old. Our staff has received trauma-informed training and our program is thriving because of this dedicated team.
We have grown this year and are almost full, with room for only one more girl. Our capacity is currently at fifteen residents for this first home, prompting us to actively search for a bigger place in order to double our capacity. We are grateful for your support as we seek the right location for what will hopefully be a permanent, larger home.
Five babies have been born this last year in Dar, and we are overjoyed to share they are healthy and happy. Our girls are working hard in school—several of them came to Courage House not able to read or write in Swahili. Now, the girls have diverse dreams—becoming a social worker, a singer, a designer, and more.
Two of our girls, having just turned 18, have transitioned to our regional Courage House Too program in Moshi, providing support for over-18 survivors to continue reaching their dreams and full potential.
We are thrilled to announce an exciting partnership with the UN International Organization for Migration in Tanzania, which has provided us with a grant from the US State Department. This partnership supports a portion of our expenses specifically at Courage House Dar and includes various trainings to enhance our capacity to provide high-quality care for survivors, as well as to host community awareness events.
We are deeply grateful to Trinity Lutheran Church in Ashland, Ohio for their grant which allowed us to establish Courage House in Dar 18 months ago. We look forward to continuing our growth and eagerly await the arrival of more girls at Courage House Dar—a place to offer healing, restore hope, and support the dreams of survivors.
Stephanie Midthun
East Africa Regional Director