Pendo's Power Empowering children about body safety and the power of their voices!

Pendo's Power is a children's book that empowers children to protect themselves and their friends! Geared toward children ages 4-10, Pendo's Power teaches age-appropriate concepts about consent, body safety, and the power of their voice! Pendo's Power is a children's book that empowers children to protect themselves and their friends! Geared toward children ages 4-10, Pendo's Power teaches age-appropriate concepts about consent, body safety, and the power of their voice! Pendo's Power was written by Lydia Matioli, a survivor of childhood sexual assault, survivor-advocate, and Program & Partnerships Director at Freely in Hope. Through the launch of Pendo's Power, Lydia hopes that children around the world will discover the power of their voices and utilize it to call out sexual abuse and build a safer world for generations to come.

After giving birth to her daughter, Lydia Matioli wanted to ensure her daughter grew up in a world that was safe. As a survivor of childhood sexual assault, Lydia was terrified that her daughter could be vulnerable to the same harm she experienced. As a child-protection advocate, Lydia wanted to educate children to be aware of what abuse looks like, and to empower parents to build trust and establish safety measures with their children. This vision birthed Pendo's Power, her first children's book! Born and raised in Kibera, East Africa's largest slum, Lydia has experienced the effects of sexual violence, lack of education, and poverty firsthand. Now serving as Freely in Hope's Program & Partnerships Director, Lydia coordinates, designs, and implements programs that exemplify best practices on ending the cycle of sexual violence. She is passionate about seeing survivors unlock and fully live out their potential. Through the launch of Pendo's Power, Lydia hopes that children around the world will discover the power of their voices and utilize it to call out sexual abuse and build a safer world for generations to come.

Ian Njuguna is a visual artist born and raised in Nairobi Kenya, where he currently resides. He works in the areas of Illustration, Motion Design and graphic design, and currently holds the position of Senior Motion Designer, for the BBC in Africa.He has worked in a number of different industries, from traditional publishing to start up companies, to international broadcast media. He has designed graphics for print/web media , broadcast media as well as packaging for retail marketing materials. He also has extensive experience with corporate Graphic Design and branding of non-profit organizations. Proficient with all Graphics packages and Adobe Creative Cloud. He holds a degree in Communications from Daystar University with a concentration in Electronic Media.

Meera Seshadri, MSPH, is an artist, researcher, and storyteller. She has spent more than a decade working as a health communications consultant at the intersections of gender equity, sexual and reproductive autonomy, and adolescent health promotion. Meera believes passionately in the power of storytelling, using equity-centered design and public health theories of change to understand the impact of oppression and trauma on minoritized communities. An essential focus of her work has been to use community-based participatory research and social change communication to uncover and interrogate the structures, ideologies, and environments that either limit or facilitate resilience, autonomy, and opportunity and work collaboratively and in coalition with these communities to redesign systems. She has worked in multiple campus settings in the United States, including as a Survivor Advocate for Emory University's Respect Program, Violence Prevention Speciailst for Georgetown University's Health Education Services, and Associate Director for Harvard University's Office of Sexual Assault Prevention & Response. She received her Master's of Science in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in adolescent health and development and health communication, and her bachelor's in global public health and development from The George Washington University's Elliot School of International Affairs.