HOPE for Girls @ VISA is a community-based organization that was started in 2012 by a group of enthusiastic friends who wanted to stand up and champion for the eradication of female genital mutilation. The organization was officially registered in 2015 with the relevant government department-KUR/EAS/457/2015.
The founders started with opening their homes to provide safe shelter to 15 girls who were running away from being forced to undergo FGM. These girls were from Kuria and Maasai communities in Migori and Narok Counties of Kenya.
This initiative continued and more girls kept increased every year to a point which it was overwhelming to host them in their homes. This led to the team raising resources among themselves and friends to put up a shelter/rescue centre in the community to support the growing number of girls. They named the centre VISA to signify that the girls get an entry to a world of opportunities and so the name HOPE for Girls @ VISA.
This centre was equipped with enough water and electricity to provide boarding facility to these girls to even study in the evening. This led to it slowly transforming to an educational centre which was providing an environment for both boys and girls to learn and be mentored. The need to include the boys in the centre is to make them change agents to have them support the girls who would say No to FGM.