What is ILONA about?

ILONA Children’s Educational Program is an education-based research program where girl survivors of sexual abuse who are struggling with impaired executive function, including those who have dropped out of school are taught. 

The ILONA Education Centre provides a safe and healing environment, counselling and psychosocial      support, and specially trained teachers who apply different forms of teaching methodologies aimed at awakening the girls’ executive functions, and enabling them to successfully learn. 

ILONA integrates these learners with other children who desire an excellent education, because children who need specialized education also benefit from exposure to ordinary peer learners. The        aim of the program is to establish the extent to which executive function can be strengthened, and the kind of environment in which these girls can effectively learn.

The plan is to run the research program for 3 years, and in 2026, share our findings with other stakeholders who will peer-review, replicate, and, after approval, publish best practices for educating child survivors of abuse for scaling-up globally. This will give more chances to such challenged children in Africa and in the rest of the world.