Program Philosophy: What Makes it Different

The City of Joy is different than other traditional NGO direct-service programs. It does not use a sponsorship model, and it does not view the women it serves as individuals that need to be saved;  rather, the City of Joy aims to provide women with the opportunity to heal and redirect themselves in a community, on their own terms. Our philosophy is grounded in the beliefs that:

  • Each woman is unique, valuable to her society, and has a right to be treated with dignity, respect, love, and compassion
  • Women are not broken “victims”; rather they are survivors who have been through unjust gender traumas
  • Each woman is capable of activating her own ability to recover, heal, and be an empowered and transformational leader
  • Rebirth is possible