Tabara Means “Rescue.” We Are Teaching Girls How to Seek Help.
This spring, I watched Danielle complete something that left me deeply grateful to the Lord.
Each semester, our Tabara program manager enters schools across Louisville and meets with East African girls between the ages of 12 and 18. This year, she reached 91 girls across five schools. These are girls who have already experienced more than most people will in a lifetime. I know many of them. I know their families. And I understand what it means for them to have someone like Danielle showing up, consistently, faithfully, week after week.
The word Tabara means “rescue” in Kinyarwanda. That definition is not symbolic; it is the foundation of the work. The goal is simple but urgent: to help these girls understand that help exists, that they are worthy of it, and that they have the agency to seek it.
In their group sessions, they discuss friendships, boundaries, and what healthy relationships look like. They learn how to recognize when something is wrong and how to speak up when a line has been crossed. This year, the middle school groups spent significant time on online safety. What these girls are encountering on social media is not trivial... it is complex and, at times, dangerous. In one session, Danielle discovered that some of the girls did not know how to make their accounts private. She walked them through it step by step. That moment captures the reality of this work: practical, immediate, and necessary.
Not every conversation is easy. Topics like jealousy, control, and responsibility when harm occurs are difficult to navigate. These issues are further shaped by cultural context and personal history. We do not approach these conversations with judgment. We approach them with consistency. We keep showing up.
One moment, in particular, stayed with me. A girl wrote that if she ever felt unsafe at home, she could get on a bus and ask the driver to take her to a Safe Place. She knew that option existed. She wrote it down. When Danielle shared that with me, I had to pause. That awareness, that sense of possibility, is everything.
Proverbs 31:8 calls us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.” Tabara is one way we live that out.
If you are interested in supporting this work, we would welcome the conversation. The need is real, and the impact is tangible.
These girls are worth it.
