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In the spirit of the festive season and preparations for the New Year, the Rhoda Serene Care Foundation partnered with the Arise for Girls Initiative to bring joy, care, and enlightenment to residents of the Sisters in Deen Foundation Orphanage Home.
The visit was designed to celebrate the season while also creating awareness around critical issues affecting children and adolescents, including child abuse, mental health, gender-based violence (GBV), and menstrual hygiene.
Rhoda Oluwatosin Olorunfemi, Executive Director of the Rhoda Serene Care Foundation—formerly known as Serene Early-Trobb Concepts (Initiative)—highlighted two key objectives of the outreach. According to her, the initiative focused on engaging children and young people through enlightening sessions on essential life issues, while also serving as the Foundation’s annual thanksgiving activity.
“We want to emphasize the importance of creating safe spaces where children can speak freely, understand their rights, and access the support they need to thrive physically, emotionally, and socially,” she said.
She further noted that the outreach reaffirmed the shared commitment of the Rhoda Serene Care Foundation and Arise for Girls Initiative to protecting, nurturing, and empowering vulnerable children and young people through community-based interventions that promote dignity, safety, and long-term wellbeing.
Gloria Matthew, Programme Coordinator of the Rhoda Serene Care Foundation, facilitated a session on anger management and emotional expression. She explained that children and young people can be taught to navigate their emotions positively, particularly emotions linked to depression and anxiety.
The outreach adopted a holistic approach aimed at addressing not only hunger, but also critical child protection and wellbeing concerns affecting children and adolescents.
Key focus areas included food and nutrition support, mental health and suicide prevention awareness, body safety and abuse prevention, sexual and reproductive health education, menstrual hygiene management, digital literacy and online safety, education for all, and child rights education.
Throughout the programme, children and young people actively engaged in interactive and age-appropriate sessions that encouraged open dialogue and learning. Participants asked thoughtful questions on anger management, emotional expression, reporting abuse, and personal safety—underscoring the urgent need for sustained psychosocial support and child protection education.
