Approaching the Finish Line
As we approach ASAH’s finish line, we would like to remind you about ChildVoice (CVI), a trusted partner in northern Uganda since 2016. ChildVoice shares our commitment to empowering vulnerable girls and young women affected by conflict and poverty, providing them with education, vocational training, and psychosocial support. Their holistic approach aligns closely with ASAH’s mission, ensuring that the values and goals we have championed for years will continue.
We interacted with ChildVoice early in our journey, however our direct relationship with ChildVoice began in 2016, when one of our younger students became pregnant after being sexually assaulted by a family neighbor. She was on holiday break from school, visiting guardians in a refugee camp near our relocated operation in Moyo, northern Uganda. When her primary school became aware of the pregnancy, she was expelled, and ASAH searched for ways to support her.
It was challenging to find an organization that would accept a young South Sudanese refugee girl who would soon have a baby. Deb was familiar with CVI’s programming after having met Conrad Mandsager, ChildVoice’s Founder and President, years earlier. Their organization had a specific mission of supporting young child mothers in a rural, residential setting while also providing vocational training. Our student thrived at ChildVoice, graduated in late 2017, and was now able to support herself and her child with these skills.
Our relationship with ChildVoice deepened after ASAH enrolled all our students in a boarding school near Kampala. During the long break between school years, we could not send them home because of volatile security risks in South Sudan. So, ASAH funded the construction of residential Tukuls at CVI’s Lukome Center where our students could receive a month of vocational training by ChildVoice staff each January for three consecutive years—until the arrival of COVID.
More recently, ChildVoice enrolled three of our students in their 18-month vocational training syllabus. Mary, Rebecca, and Martha graduated at the top of their class in September! Because each of them is under the age of 18, ChildVoice placed them in internships so they can continue to live at the Lukome Center and work as peer mentors.
As ASAH prepares to close its doors, we are confident that ChildVoice is well-positioned to carry forward our legacy and continue to transform young lives. We wholeheartedly encourage you, our valued donors, to consider redirecting your generous support to ChildVoice, ensuring that the mission we have pursued together will endure and flourish in the capable hands of our trusted partner.
We have worked diligently to be good stewards of the financial resources directed to ASAH. Upon meeting our obligations, including the costs of shutting down, we may have a remaining balance. If we do, it will go to ChildVoice for continuation of services to girls and young women in East Africa. We expect to complete the legal process for dissolution of ASAH by July 1, 2025.
With deep gratitude,
ASAH Board of Directors