OVER the month of April, tears of pain turned to those of joy for 36 vulnerable women and girls who participated in the Rise Up: Healing Today, Thriving Tomorrow vocational and trauma-informed workshops facilitated by the Women Owned Media and Education Network (Women).

There was laughter and applause, a show of strength and resilience, and most importantly hope at the programme’s graduation ceremony at the St Jude’s Home for Girls on May 3.

The vocational and psychosocial training initiative, which ran from April 6–30, was hosted by Women in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence’s Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU), and supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).