Our new boxing and literacy project with Medica Mondiale begins

We are thrilled to have just begun a major new project with Medica Mondiale, the leading women’s rights and aid organisation. The programme sees us partnering to provide our groundbreaking Boxing Sisters training and self-defence for women and girls, along with literacy classes and awareness sessions on gender-based violence. 

The six-month project at Essyan camp is designed to improve vulnerable survivors’ mental and physical health and to help them heal from years of trauma and upheaval. It will also increase their confidence and employability through literacy classes, and help boost understanding of their rights in relation to violence and abuse. As with most of our projects, we have prioritised those who are most in need of support, as well as those who have not been reached before by this kind of programme. In addition, the participants’ family members will also be invited to attend awareness-raising sessions.

As you may already know, our boxing and self-defence classes are incredibly popular, enabling long-lasting friendships to form and helping girls channel and process feelings of anger, loss and resentment which have built up during years of conflict and displacement. Boxing also helps improve girls’ self-confidence and ability to protect themselves.

Typically, those benefitting from the project have previously had little or no support for their wellbeing. During the ISIS conflict, many of them lost family members or saw them disappear without trace, and others were kidnapped or subjected to slavery and violence. Those who were impacted still struggle to process emotions, and uncertainty and confusion still exists around their rights.

Our Regional Director Vian Ahmed says: “We are delighted to have teamed up with Medica Mondiale for this new project. The organisation shares the Lotus Flower’s values in working to empower women and girls and protect them from gender-based violence, and this makes us ideal partners.”

Founded in 1993, Medica Mondiale supports women and girls who have experienced sexualised wartime violence, working with local, female-led partner organisations to achieve its goals. It also strives to assert women’s rights and raise awareness of the consequences of violence across all of society.

We’ll be bringing you many more updates on the project as it progresses…