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 and genocide. Here is a round up of our news:

Aspire, Rwanda. So far Aspire has helped 350 vulnerable women become literate, acquire a commercially useful skills, and learn how to manage money. An enlightened and classy clothing company in North Carolina (www.Doncaster.com) has bought $20,000 / £14,000 worth of the recycled paper beads made by the Aspire women. This means the women can feed and educate their children, breaking the cycle of poverty that blights Africa.

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BEATING POVERTY ONE COOKIE AT A TIME

Dear friend, Network for Africa believes that by equipping poor and vulnerable women and children with the tools to help themselves, they can begin to lift themselves out of poverty. This is why we are supporting Women Developing Rwanda (WDR) - a woman’s empowerment group made up of students attending Network for Africa’s Learning Centre in Kigali, Rwanda.

The women involved are either orphans or widows living in severe poverty, facing hardship every day of their lives. They formed WDR to find solutions to the challenges affecting them. They also offer each other support and advice.

Achieving their goals - to complete university, to educate their families and become independent, strong women – means becoming economically self-sufficient. So, in July 2009 thirty WDR women started a small business, a bakery called Wanda Bread. They began to bake typically ‘English’ and ‘American’ style cookies and cakes, selling their goods to the large international community in Kigali.

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THE POWER OF MUSIC

Dear friend, Music has the power to reach people when words fail. Thanks to two remarkable volunteer music teachers, Rwanda now has its first ever music school.

Amy Stead and David Wald from the UK have started the ReGeneration Music School in the Network for Africa Learning Centre with our Rwandan partners, Solace, in Kigali. The purpose is twofold: to offer music therapy to traumatised orphans who survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and to teach music to talented young Rwandans who wish to become professional musicians.

Our aim is to establish a sustainable business model for the school, eventually attracting enough paying students to cross-subsidise the genocide orphans who cannot pay. David and Amy are working with local Rwandan musicians who will take over from them when they return to the UK.

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Thank you for supporting our work with survivors of genocide in Africa. Our volunteers have just returned from successful trips to Rwanda, Northern Uganda and the Darfuri refugee camps on the Chad/Sudan border. In each case we are transferring skills to people who are keen to rebuild their lives.

In Rwanda we have a full-time English literacy and computer school for genocide orphans and widows. Armed with a graduation certificate from our Learning Centre, our students stand a much better chance of getting a decently-paid job. We also continue to help train several hundred women who make jewellery for sale, allowing them to feed and educate their children.

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The English literacy classes at our Learning Centre in the Rwandan capital, Kigali are so popular that we have a long waiting list of genocide survivors, keen to join our classes. Thanks to your kindness and generosity we have started a second classroom.

We soon hope to begin literacy training in Rwandan for genocide widows, who are particularly vulnerable. Being able to read and write opens up many more opportunities for people who would otherwise be vulnerable to exploitation.

We also have volunteer teachers from the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe helping us in Rwanda year round, teaching English, computers, business skills and supporting the work of our women’s self-help group.

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I was recently apologising to a group of people in a refugee camp in northern Uganda, saying our training courses last only four or five days. I explained we were short of time because we have so many far flung camps to reach on our trip. A woman assured me that would be all right. "You can talk to me for two hours, but it will be with me for the rest on my life," she said.

We will soon begin replicating our successful Rwandan training programmes in the marginalised camps of northern Uganda, where two million people, coping in terrible conditions, have been living in fear of the Lords Resistance Army for 22 years. We will be training community leaders to be lay counsellors,and if we get the resources, we will introduce our course on how to set up and run a business, and a community group to work for people's rights.

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Thank you for your continuing interest in our work in Rwanda. At the end of this newsletter is a list of gifts for Africa that we hope you will consider giving in the name of your friends and family this festive season. For instance, for $40 or £20 you can equip a Rwandan student to learn English, or provide a kit for a midwife to deliver a baby. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

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Network for Africa (N4A) has had a busy summer! We have good news to report on the progress of the Ntarama Community Health & Education Centre; psychotherapy training; summer projects; an upcoming trip to Rwanda; and possibilities to support N4A through providing services. None of this work would be possible without your financial support and the long hours worked tirelessly by volunteers.

Thank you and enjoy the September Newsletter!

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