Common Canvas (formerly Walyendo Gallery), Totya Platform, and Obina from the Regenerative Safaris have joined forces to turn art into timely care for survivors of sexual violence. This is an example collaboration and co-creation inside the SINA ecosystem between SINA members and social enterprises. In Obina’s “Diary of a Bushman” podcast episode, Totya founder Janet Aguti shares how lived experience powers Uganda’s only survivor-dedicated hotline and how the downfall of USAID left huge gaps to needed medical support for victims of sexual violence whereby Totya has created a new solution: Counselor Anna-Maria Mbumbia walks through the low-cost sexual assault response kit (rape kit), and artist-activist Edgar Walyendo explains how Common Canvas hosts Totya & Paint sessions where survivors and allies paint side by side. Each canvas raises awareness and helps fund kits so survivors can access essential care within 72 hours.
Together they are rallying around 11 October—International Day of the Girl Child—to reach the first 110 kits and kick off a rolling series of Totya & Paint events. Join us in Uganda in Mpigi on the day, organize a sister session elsewhere, or sponsor kits from anywhere. One kit costs 50,000 UGX (about $15 / 12 EUR) and can supports survivors to not get HIV, not get pregnant and the first aid needed.
Watch the conversation to meet the collaborators, then take part: Totya Platform brings survivor-centered services, Common Canvas creates the healing and fundraising platform, and Obina amplifies the story so support grows faster: