The name Rejesha is derived from the Kiswahili word ‘kurejesha’, which means to restore or return. Founded in 2019, their mission is to create a compassionate environment where marginalized women in commercial sex work can find healing, hope, and pathways to sustainable employment. Many women are driven to commercial sex work by circumstance, be it poverty or the desperation to support themselves and their families in face of a lack of viable economic alternatives. In the experience of the project, most they have seen are single mothers without a high school education or job skills to enter and thrive in the formal workforce.
| Email: info@rejeshaprojectnairobi.org |
| Phone Number: +254 713 531 389 |
| Website: https://www.rejeshaprojectnairobi.org/ |
The model used is a ‘Responsibility model’ rather than a rescue model. There is also a volunteer outreach, where every two weeks, on a Saturday night, a team of committed volunteers go out to the streets of Nairobi and serve and share a home-cooked meal with between 20 and 40 women a night. This simple act offers the women a chance to be seen, heard, and respected, not just valued for their bodies. Here, they can just be, sharing in conversation and a meal with fellow women. They also offer 6-week trauma-centered group therapy sessions with a qualified therapist. This unique opportunity allows women in commercial sex work to courageously face their past traumas, discuss their mental and emotional challenges, and develop practical tools for emotional resilience and self-care.
Furthermore, they have a job skills training program which empowers women who express the wish to permanently exit commercial sex work with practical skills, such as small business skills, as well as funding to start and expand small businesses, with over 15 businesses being started and expanded through the project. They also cover employment skills which lead to formal jobs through the project’s partners.
Eunice Mathu is the Founder and CEO of the Project. She has been a passionate advocate in the field of Gender and Sexual Violence for over a decade. In March of 2022, she was joined by Tessa Irungu, an empathetic and compassionate social worker who goes the extra mile to provide support.
‘We envision a world where every woman has the freedom and equal access to meaningful and dignified work, unbound by circumstance or lack of opportunity.’
Eunice Mathu, Founder, Rejesha Project