ANWOL is taking its model abroad! Just weeks after leading SAFE Housing Network‘s first replication training in December, our founder, Susan Burton, traveled to Kampala at the beginning of 2019 to meet with officials from the Uganda Prisons Service (which is part of the Ugandan government) and the African NGO Wells of Hope Ministries to discuss the need for safe housing for formerly incarcerated women.
When Ugandan women are released from prison, they are often shamed and shunned by society, pushed out of their villages and left to fend for themselves. During this meeting, the Ugandan government recognized the need for reentry housing and services for these women. “The Prisons Service was very welcoming and open to our message,” Susan said. “They’re ready to get safe housing for women off the ground.”
Wells of Hope is already working in Uganda and several other African nations to support prisoners and their children. Susan accompanied founder Francis Ssuubi to Wells of Hope’s school to meet with students who couldn’t remain in their old schools because of the bullying and teasing they were forced to endure for having incarcerated parents. Plans are now in development for ANWOL to help Wells of Hope to expand its reach and deliver much-needed safe housing services to formerly incarcerated Ugandan women. “We want to rebuild the family ties of these women,” Susan said. “Reentry housing will help facilitate that.”
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