Lydia House International

Lydia House International's aim is to offer funding and practical assistance for projects that can ultimately become self-sustainable so that our indigenous partners will not need to rely on us to continue their good work. We want to serve women, children, and underserved communities by empowering them to become strong and independent spiritually, socially, and financially. We hope to fight back against gender inequality through prevention and awareness education, while also providing healing and empowerment for young women to get ahead regardless of their circumstances. The Lydia House residential program in Liberia aims to develop the spiritual, technical, social, and moral capacities of women and girls who have experienced hardship: to enable them contribute to the development and sustainability of themselves, their families, and their nation as a whole. This will involve offering them a safe space to develop their potential, finish their education, and receive vocational training leading to a sustainable income.

Lydia House has a partnership with trusted Liberian leaders who will implement agreed upon plans for the Lydia House residential facility. We are working in close connection with them to create a program for young women and girls which will ensure their safety, foster healing and empowerment, and give them the education and support they need to learn life skills and procure sustainable employment. The residents (and qualifying non-residents) will be offered vocational training which will be part of a work-study program contributing to both the women's growth and the sustainability of the home. In addition, we are developing curricula specific to the West African context which will address sexual abuse and gender based violence in two different ways. First, we will offer local leaders training in awareness and prevention of sexual abuse and gender-based violence which focuses on root causes, identification of victims and perpetrators, creation of a reporting system that protects victims, and understanding concepts like consent and exploitation. Second, we will offer our residents a special healing program for survivors of sexual abuse, to help them receive trauma-informed care, which will contribute significantly to their ability to thrive and become self-sufficient leaders in their communities.

Our Founding Director and President, Margo Rees, has worked with multiple organizations over the past decade to develop programs promoting awareness and prevention of child sexual abuse. She has also worked closely with survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation toward their healing. She collaborated with experts both in the US and Liberia to develop the prevention and healing curricula used by Lydia House. She has trained over 150 community leaders in Liberia to use the prevention materials and they themselves are now training their peers. The members of the Lydia House International Board of Directors have established relationships with several trusted leaders throughout Liberia, and are working closely with them throughout the process of implementing the programs for the women's residential home and vocational program. Our primary partners, the Dunbars, have a dedicated NGO for this project, whose Board of Directors include several Liberian leaders who are active in the educational and social protection fields. These relationships have facilitated the progress of Lydia House Liberia as a fully compliant, successful NGO in the country. The Dunbars are also currently overseeing the staffing, implementation of development programs, and residential life of the home. They are also working closely with local law enforcement and social programs to increase reporting of gender-based violence and raise awareness about women's rights beginning in secondary schools.

In 2022, the construction of our residential complex was completed: the 2 acre compound in Bong County, Liberia is fully walled, and houses an administrative/classroom building as well as a residence hall (60 bed capacity). The home is ready to receive its first residents in 2023. On the education and development side, our Speak Out curriculum - a sexual abuse and gender-based violence awareness/prevention program has been introduced across Liberia to local leaders, NGO workers, teachers clinics, and more. It is already having a great impact at many levels: leaders throughout many counties are creating focus groups to increase accountability and reporting of SGBV, and several local communities are using our teen program in their secondary schools to teach consent and gender equality. We have also obtained sewing machines for our vocational program, and these will be used in a work-study program for sewing sustainable feminine hygiene products to sell to NGOs who serve women throughout Africa. The goal in this program is to offer vocational instruction sufficient to generate sustainable income for the residents, and at the same time support for the operational expenses of the home.