Freely in Hope equips survivors of sexual violence through education, leadership, and storytelling skills that heal communities in Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa. Survivors posed for and hand-painted self-portraits to reflect who they are— creating images that share their stories, their hopes, and their visions for themselves as survivors who overcome. This project was inspired by Kehinde Wiley, a Nigerian-American artist known for his highly naturalistic paintings of people with brown and black skin in heroic poses. In a similar way, Freely in Hope survivors chose to pose in a way that represents who they are—strong, beautiful and confident. Their paintings tell stories of their past, their journey forward, and their dreams of healing for themselves and for our world.
My pose shows the strength in me even as I serve different people who have experienced different kinds of trauma. I have a stance of power when working towards liberating the world from all forms of abuse. MARYCLARE, 23 BA in Mass Communications
My picture portrays my sassiness that comes from the joy in my heart. The flowing designs are symbols of the beautiful rays of light and joy that I bestow to others. LYDIA, 21 Pursuing BA in Gender & Community Development
My posture in a prayer pose says thank you to Freely in Hope—for a family that cares for me unconditionally. The bright colors in my picture shows the light inside of me is bright and butterflies of transformation surround me. I am climbing the stairs to get to the top. I am looking far away to symbolize that the sky is not the limit and my dreams are vast. The stars that I am looking toward show that my dreams are becoming bigger and bigger day by day. ALICE, 21 Pursuing BA in Nursing
My pose shows that I am focused on what is ahead of me—not what is behind me. I want to keep going no matter what. I believe I am a conqueror. The green trees symbolize my strength and the fruits falling down from the tree tells a story of me. You can hit a mango tree as much as you want and the mangoes will always fall down. This means that no matter what I am going through, I will still produce fruit. MARYANNE, 20 Pursuing BA in Social Work
I love nature. In my painting, the dark mountains symbolizes my life in the past. But now, I am in front of it and there is life represented by the green fields. The fully bloomed flower symbolizes my achievement of graduating from High School through Freely in Hope. I have accomplished this goal, but now, I have a new goal. The budding flower resembles my next goal of graduating from university. URSULLAH, 18 Pursuing BA in Nursing
My painting shows that my life is a story. I’m not yet at the top but I’m still climbing to the top. The colors in my body symbolizes that my heart was dark but is now free. I am turning my back on my past—people, butterflies, and light encouraged me out of the pit I was in. I want my words to speak beauty. The red flower is a reflection of my heart—inside there is a black spot of darkness. The spot is there because there is a green barrier blocking the sun rays from healing my dark heart. But eventually, my heart broke through the barrier and was healed by the sun. Now, my hart no longer has a black spot—I am filled with so much hope. Trizah, 18 High School Student
White symbolizes peace and orange symbolizes joy. I am wearing peace and joy. I love peace and colors— the leaves surrounding me show the life that I have inside of me. JOAN, 18 High School Student
My painting is a representation of a diamond to show that I am strong like a diamond. Pink shows that I am shining. Blue symbolizes the glory of the Lord in my life. Orange shows humility and green resembles my education. OSIKOL, 27 Pursuing BA in Law
The colors in my picture symbolizes the bonds between my Freely in Hope community that hold us together. Whatever happens, they still love and care for me and that’s all that matters. I am also a comedian and so my pose shows that I love making people laugh. FAITH, 20 High School Student
I used the different colors to show how much I’ve changed throughout the years—green resembles growth, pink resembles femininity, and the yellow resembles joy. The purple and orange represent the Freely in Hope counseling room, where I work. In my pose, I am shouting to advocate for the rights of survivors of sexual violence. My words and stories are freely coming out of my mouth because I am no longer silent. EUNICE, 27 BA in Counseling Psychology
I love smiling. My beautiful painting shows how my life will be beautiful. JENNIFER, 19 Pursuing BA in Human Resources
Blue resembles life. Behind me is the dark past I was in but the blue is the life that is ahead. CARRIVER, 19 Pursuing BA in Education
My painting symbolizes an eagle because I am aiming higher even as I look at the future. The birds of hope are surrounding me and taking me toward my goal. LINET, 18 High School Student
The different colors in my picture symbolizes the diverse people I am going to serve, not only in my community, but everywhere in the world—people from different cultures and backgrounds who are in need of love and care. My pose shows that I am a professional woman, an advocate for others. STELLAH, 20 Pursuing BA in Human Resources
Until there is no victim of sexual violence. Join us in equipping survivors and advocates to lead in ending sexual violence. www.freelyinhope.org
Prints of the artwork available. All proceeds benefit the work of Freely in Hope to support the education and leadership dreams of these survivors of sexual violence. Contact: info@freelyinhope.org