Counselling, Darfuri refugee camps, Chad
Our volunteer psychotherapists teach lay counsellors to give support to Darfuri refugees living in Chad who have fled the genocide in Darfur. Over 250,000 Darfuris live in squalid camps, traumatised by the violence they witnessed, scared of the Chadian authorities, and frustrated by their inability to return to their homes and their normal lives.
Partnering with the international charity, CORD, the N4A team began giving trauma counselling training to men, women and youths in Farchana and Gaga refugee camps in 2009.
Thousands of men, women and children who have fled the genocide in Darfur continue to re-live their nightmares in refugee camps in Chad. Few receive any counselling or psychological support. Their suffering and grief continues, as they struggle to make sense of what has happened to them.
Women's Income Generating Groups, Uganda
Trauma cannot be treated in isolation from the poverty and deprivation that blights northern Uganda. Women are especially vulnerable for cultural reasons.
In 2008 we began to support two local women’s groups’ income-generating projects. Many of the fifty women involved are widows and have HIV/AIDS.
Counselling, Northern Uganda
Our volunteer psychotherapists teach lay counsellors to give support to survivors of the notoriously vicious Lord’s Resistance Army in an isolated area in Northern Uganda. We also support and train women’s groups to establish small income generating projects; and teach HIV-AIDS mitigation and family planning with community groups, young people and in prisons.
For more than two decades the extreme Lord’s Resistance Army LRA has terrorised the Acholi people of northern Uganda. The LRA has temporarily moved its bases into neighbouring southern Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic. However, they have left in their wake emotional, physical and economic devastation.
Wanda Bread, Rwanda
A small group of ambitious and dedicated women at the Learning Centre has formed a bakery business called Wanda Bread With the help of N4A, the women wrote a business plan, elected a management committee and learned how to bake.
The Wanda Bread women produce high quality baked sweet and savoury goods popular with the many ex-patriot Westerners living in Kigali.
In just a few months the women have already made a modest profit, the first strides in the path to financial independence. Alice Gikundiro, President of Wanda Bread told us,
‘I love cooking and being part of Wanda bread has helped me to learn how to bake different cookies and is enabling me to make a living and become an independent and successful woman!’
ReGeneration Music Centre, Rwanda
The ReGeneration Music Centre was founded by two talented volunteers, Amy Stead and David Wald, both trained musicians and teachers. They teach guitar, piano, flute, drumming and singing lessons. The school also has a choir and band, with students of all ages drawing on Rwandese, African and Western music traditions.
They also offer band sessions and music theory, aural awareness and song writing classes to complement the practical training. Only after Amy and David began the music school did the find out it was the first one, ever, in Rwanda.
The programme will enable the students to receive practical tuition and support, whilst building their confidence and self esteem through individual and community development activities.
Aspire, Rwanda
Aspire is a small Rwandan not-for-profit organisation helping hundreds of women rebuild their lives in the wake of the genocide. Aspire informs and equips women with the knowledge, skills, esteem and friendship to become self-sufficient and empowered. Aspire’s women make crafts, allowing them to educate and feed their children, breaking the cycle of poverty.
By working together, the women of Aspire make their own choices and take control of their future. Aspire's mission is built on the belief that the promotion of human dignity and women’s rights will lead to positive sustainable community development and strong and lasting grassroots reconciliation.
Ntarama Health Clinic, Rwanda
Network For Africa, working with the respected Rwandan non-governmental organisations, SURF (the genocide survivors’ fund) and IBUKA, has a clinic, maternity ward and community centre serving a population of 17,000 impoverished citizens.
Ntarama is a 45 minute drive south of the capital, Kigali, in a deprived area of rural Rwanda. It is the site of one of the most notorious events during the genocide, when 5,000 people who had taken shelter in a church were murdered. Even before the genocide the area had been deliberately starved of schools and medical facilities.
Rwanda Multi-Learning Centre
There is a great demand, especially among young Rwandans, to learn to speak English. Sadly, in many parts of Africa, the best jobs are with international non-governmental organisations, and a knowledge of English is a great advantage in seeking work.
It is also essential to speak English to continue in school and to go to university. There are virtually no text books published in the local language, Kinyarwanda, so many secondary and college-level course are taught in English.
We are looking for people willing to go to Rwanda to work on our education projects; teaching English literacy, business and enterprise, computer skills, handicraft training, and nutrition. We are also recruiting volunteer psychotherapists, social workers, nurses and doctors to work with in health related programmes.
Network for Africa is now accepting applications for our Summer 2009 volunteer programme in Rwanda. If you wish to apply or to learn more about volunteering opportunities please contact us.
Network for Africa volunteer application information.
Not able to travel to Rwanda but still want to be a part of the N4A team?
We are in need of pro bono legal advice as we establish N4A in the US. In particular, we need someone familiar with California business regulations.
Additionally, we are continuously in need of connections with shipping companies that would be able to help us move items to Africa at a reasonable, or even discounted, price.
Please contact us if you can provide help with legal advice or shipping.
N4A Blog
Latest News
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April 2010 Newsletter Network for Africa has already had a busy and productive new year working with inspirational men, women and children in Rwanda, Chad and northern Uganda who are rebuilding their lives in the wake of conflict...Read More...
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