Comic Relief collaborates with One Community Link, as highlighted in the featured article.
- Ogaba Joseph Attah
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Mariama describes herself as a fighter and a strong woman. She is building a new life for herself and her children, and using her strength to help other women do the same.
Mariama’s journey began in Sierra Leone, where she made the incredibly brave decision to leave her home in search of safety. Having lost both her parents, survived female genital mutilation, been married at a very young age, and experienced domestic abuse, she knew she had to protect her daughters from a future shaped by the same expectations.
Arriving in the UK brought hope, but also new challenges. After gaining asylum and reuniting with her children through family reunification, Mariama found herself at risk of being without a safe place to call home. Despite doing everything right, complex housing systems and unfair decision-making left her family in unsafe, unsuitable accommodation with nowhere else to go.
With support from Marsha at One Community Link, an organisation funded by Comic Relief, Mariama was able to navigate those barriers, have her rights upheld, and secure a safe, stable home for her family – a foundation from which they could finally begin to rebuild.
Today, Mariama’s children are thriving at school and Mariama is using her strength not just for her family, but for other women. She’s setting up a women’s group which will be hosted in One Community Link’s space, using her resilience to support others. Mariama also hopes one day to expand this support beyond just the UK and create lasting change so girls and women back home won’t have to endure what she did.
With your support, Comic Relief can continue to fund organisations that stand alongside communities facing injustice, helping to ensure no mother and her children are left without a safe place to call home, and that every family has the opportunity to thrive.
Donate today. ❤️
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