Seeing with New Eyes | TEDxEntebbe stage
At the TEDxEntebbe stage, our CEO Jacqueline Asiimwe delivered a powerful and deeply moving talk titled “Seeing with New Eyes.” With remarkable courage and clarity, she tackled the often-avoided subject of child sexual abuse, calling on society to confront the uncomfortable truths we frequently shy away from. She reminded the audience that healing and transformation only begin when we dare to speak the unspeakable and see the unseen.
Drawing from both personal stories and hard-hitting statistics, she emphasized how silence around abuse perpetuates cycles of harm. Rather than allowing fear or shame to stifle action, Jackie challenged us to engage in open, honest conversations. She framed this as a communal responsibility, underscoring that prevention, support, and justice cannot rest solely on institutions or a few individuals. It is a collective task that calls for empathy, vigilance, and courage from all of us.
Jackie urged listeners to shift the way they perceive survivors, not as statistics or broken beings, but as resilient individuals with dignity, agency, and boundless potential. This reframing, what she calls "seeing with new eyes," invites us to move beyond apathy or pity and towards real solidarity and action. She painted a vision of communities where teachers, parents, neighbors, and leaders are trained and empowered to listen, support, and protect.
Ending on a call to action, Jackie reminded us that awareness alone is not enough. Change comes when we channel that awareness into practical steps, creating safe spaces for children to speak, equipping communities with knowledge, and committing to proactive care. “Seeing with new eyes,” she concluded, means not just acknowledging pain but responding to it with clarity, compassion, and purpose. It means becoming the kind of society that refuses to look away and, instead, chooses to protect, uplift, and transform.
#SeeingWithNewEyes #BreakTheSilence #ChildSafetyIsEveryone’sJob #NotJustAStatistic #CommunityCareInAction #TEDxEntebbe