Many a sentence has begun with "I once had a dream"... And many more goals, desires and missions have been realized from this simple sentence, from these dreams of great hope. When we had been running the child support programme in Bamako for six or seven years and the little girls who started school with the help of Hungarian donors were growing up, I was confronted with the vulnerable situation and the traumatic problems they face as young women... I wondered how I could help them to live a more dignified life, so that at least their children could escape from harmful practices such as genital mutilation, child marriage or even wife beating. It was this aspiration that gave birth first to the Mme Morris Girls Club and then to the Girls Connection Club, now run by my daughter Mesi Morris Our drive for change and education continued in our Girls Matter programme.
It was through this programme that we met our local partner Sini Sanuman, who have been working for 20 years to eradicate female genital mutilation from their country and to give women in Mali a more dignified, safer and humane life. In recognition of their work, they have been given a plot of land to build a women's centre, House of Hope. This gave me a glimmer of hope that we could achieve something valuable and forward-thinking together. I could almost see the building, the House of Hope, not only as a temporary shelter for women fleeing abuse, but also as an opportunity to retrain and learn, to give them a chance to start afresh, to live a more independent and free life. I dreamed of a women's centre that would also serve as a knowledge and support centre for the community... And when you see the goal, somehow you find the way to it.
But the road, like all important roads, was difficult and bumpy. Many people did not believe it was possible to have such a far-reaching impact, to be allowed to interfere in the barbaric actions of distant cultures. It took years and years to convince many people that there is a situation that already affects us universally, that we cannot turn away from it. The success of the journey to the goal required the unwavering commitment of a team, countless discussions, a moving sense of togetherness and the spontaneous message of a brave volunteer, Anita Lengyel, who knows no impossible.
... that's how we got to the point where, at the beginning of January, we signed a grant agreement with Richter Gedeon Plc, under which the pharmaceutical giant will make a significant contribution to the construction of the house and to the costs of its operation.
We are extremely grateful to all our previous supporters for their support and to Richter Gedeon Plc for being at the forefront of our support. From now on the house will be called "Gedeon Richter-Sini Sanuman House of Hope".
The foundation stone of the women's centre has been laid. Construction will start soon! See? It is worth dreaming! 
