Pacific Girls YWCA's Girls Rise Up! is breaking the silence and giving a voice to young girls in Honiara

Clera Tegu, a 17 year-old deaf girl from Makira Ulawa Province in Solomon Islands, is one of over 200 young girls involved in the Girls Rise Up! The project aims to develop the confidence, skills and knowledge of at-risk girls while helping them establish supportive peer networks and the opportunity to safely advocate for issues that affect them. Through the project’s life skills program, Clera has learned several income generating skills including paper bead and jewellery making, and lavalava dying, which enables her to earn money and contribute to her family and church. The training has empowered her with self-confidence and life skills and she now advocates for other girls with disabilities through the use of sign language.