It was a beautiful, unexpected contrast; such joy and laughter in a room full of girls who, despite their young age, had already faced unimaginable challenges. AJWS continues to fund this, and many other organizations, but we cannot make up the gap in funding alone. Their voices, steady and sincere, spoke of teenage pregnancy, abandonment, and social exclusion; including the double stigma from being a young mother who is living with HIV. And yet, in this hardship, Lean on Me Foundation has created an island of safety – a space where these girls can simply breathe. And for young girls, already terrified and stigmatized, this experience can be traumatizing.