Australian blogger Constance Hall has harnessed the power of her loyal social media following to raise funds for a charity that supports sexually abused Kenyan girls.
The response has been overwhelming, with over $100,000 rolling in in less than a day.
Hall was made aware of the cause after being contacted by a full-time volunteer for Rafiki Mwema – a not-for-profit organisation that offers a safe house, counselling, medical care, legal support and community education to young female victims of sexual violence in the east African country.
As Hall wrote:
“Some of these young survivors have been sexually abused to the point of needing surgery, some prostituted from the age of 2 (yep, you read that correctly 2-years-old) some aren’t able to communicate to anybody without covering their faces due to the shame they believe they have brought on themselves.”
Sadly, Rafiki Mwema has become so overwhelmed with the numbers of young children in their care, that they were seeking funds to build a house to accommodate older, teenage victims. They needed $75,000. And so Constance reached out to her more than half-a-million followers, or “Queens” as she affectionately calls them.
Within just six hours of the above post, the Constance’s community delivered.
And then some. By last night, the GoFundMe total stood at over $110,000.
In a video post thanking her loyal followers for their contributions, Constance said she has been overwhelmed by success of the campaign. “I’ve never raised any money before,” she says tearfully, before admitting that, as a child, she failed to donate money earned walking dogs to pet rescue shelters, like she had promised.
It’s probably safe to say that you’ve redeemed yourself with this one.
Top Comments
This is how great social media can be. Fantastic work, everyone. You all deserve great karma.
Its very close to $150,000 now. Such a great effort