Sisters of Hope

The Group was founded in 2018 by survivors of sexual abuse who found refuge at the Camps of Hope shelter facility operated by Samoa Victim Support Group. The sisterhood’s mission is to promote a family atmosphere among its members, necessary for them to rise up from the ugliest reality of being sexually abused. The groundwork for the scope of the Group’s work is set out while the survivors are in residence at the shelter. This is where a support network of sisters is formed which has greatly assisted with the girls rehabilitation, and their eventual reintegration back into the community. It is also at the shelter facility that the sisterhood approach to life outside the safety of the shelter facility is introduced. Over the years, members of the Group have become Ambassadors against sexual abuse, speaking publicly in schools, amongst youth gatherings an in the media as their awareness platform.

“I was sexually abused by my biological father at 9. I turned to my mother who took my father’s side. I confided to a friend who contacted my helpers. I am 21 years old now; an Ambassador against child sexual abuse, encouraging other girls who have walked the same path as I, that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.  When I became a shelter residence in 2012, I was an angry child. But I found peace in the oddest places. Digging the soil releases my anger. Seeing my plants grow makes me happy. I gave the garden my own name: Leilua’s Peace Garden. In 2019, I travelled to London, and met Prince Harry, to receive the Commonwealth Innovative Award for my Peace Garden. Close to 300 abused children found peace at my peace garden, and together, we are building a stronger generation of young feminist.”