RESPECT International Blog

To celebrate the inauguration of the new Online United Nations Volunteer (UNV) site on December 5, 2008, Ashok Pillai, RESPECT University coordinator, was invited to participate through video conference as an online volunteer of RESPECT University at UNV, India, New Delhi.

The UNV headquarters are in Bonn, Germany, and held here the conference was attended by local online volunteers and officials. The event provided an opportunity to highlight the value of online volunteers. Ashok informed the audience of RESPECT International’s programs and the opportunities it creates for both refugee students and their online volunteer tutors, both of whom gain immense satisfaction from the experience.

“RESPECT University may be about post-secondary education to refugees and IDPs, but it also formed a bridge which brought people on both sides of the fence closer. RESPECT University is a virtual institution yet it holds out hope for a better tomorrow for the less privileged.

Those present seemed to appreciate the work of online volunteers associated with RESPECT University and its work and achievements may be documented in an effort to inspire others to join online volunteering.” Mohammed Riazuddin

For opportunities for online volunteering visit the Online United Nations Volunteer (UNV) site.

For more information on RESPECT International visit our website.

“Even Einstein was a refugee, and the difference between success and failure is determination.”

This is a quotation from Bilombele Asukulu: a refugee originally from Democratic Republic of Congo who fled to Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in the United Republic of Tanzania in 1996. Whilst living in the camp he was struck by the hopeless situation the youths of the camp found themselves in. After escaping violence in Congo they now had no education and no way to build a future for themselves.

What little that could be done for them was done. Holding classes under a tree with no blackboard or materials. Some of the youths gave up, some returned to Congo to join the militias whilst a few remained in education. Seeking to bring hope to the young people he started NECH: New Educational Center for Hope.

He made contact with RESPECT International in 2003 via the Internet. This contact enabled him to use RESPECTs experience and resources to affect change in his community. Some of the activities now available in the camp are letter exchange programs, RESPECT University programs, HIV/AIDS campaigns, human rights campaigns, peace and reconciliation education, conflict resolution education, orphans education sponsorship and unmarried mother support.

Currently, there are 130 children in NECH, with funding for materials coming from fees paid by students, founding members contributions and donations. In the future Bilombele hope to continue building on what he has started and provide more resources, including books, to aid the children’s learning.

To find out more about the work RESPECT is doing please click here.

Working to Empower
Forced Migration Review
Strategies for Hope
International Alliance for HIV/AIDS.

Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, serves people who have been forcibly displaced from their home countries due to war or persecution from countries such as Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia andSudan. It is administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and, according to their current statistics, the camp population stands at just under 50,000 refugees.

Produced by journalists from each of the countries of origin is the independant news magazine KANERE, or the Kakuma News Reflector. The magazine was started to create a more open vision of society within the refugee camp and a platform for fair public debate on refugee affairs. The magazine contents include:

• a letter from the editor introducing the contents
• Arts
• Community and Culture
• Education
• Health
• Peace and Security
• Human Rights
• News Updates

Also, international contributers add to the online magazine. A print version of this is distrubuted within the camp.

The opportunity for communication that this magazine provides in invaluable to the refugees. Once they are admitted to the camp they cannot move freely around the country but must apply for a permit. The refugees now have a voice and readerc can learn what life in a refugee camp is really like from the people who live there day in day out.

To read the online magazine click here: Kakuma News Reflector – A Refugee Free Press

Located in Kampala, Uganda, the RESPECT University students are urban refugees whose countries of origin include Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, and Burundi. Due to wars and genocides in the surrounding countries Uganda has witnessed an influx of refugees. Many of these people go straight to the capital Kampala while others move there from the refugee camps seeking more opportunities and better living conditions.

One of the problems the refugees face is that they don’t speak English. This hinders their day to day existence as they cannot communicate what they want. It also impacts their futures because they cannot study at English speaking universities, apply for jobs or testify in court against the people responsible for violence and discrimination against them. Also without regular paid work they cannot afford to pay for medical care or education.

This is where the RESPECT Functional Adult Literacy Program comes in. It offers refugees free adult literacy courses. This enables the students to improve their lives and the lives of their families.

The Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) at Refugee Law Project (RLP) is currently coordinating the following courses with RESPECT University: Early Childhood Development, International Human Rights (English), International Human Rights (French), International Relations, Business Administration, Small and Medium Business, Persuasive Writing, and Information Technology. A total of 62 students are enrolled in these courses.

The program started with the placement of a small notice inviting people who were interested to fill out registration forms. At this stage there were no tutors and so subjects that would be taught were yet to be decided upon. Therefore, the students were asked what they would be interested in learning, after which RESPECT University coordinator, Ashok Pillai, connected them with tutors. Interest in the program was far greater than initially anticipated.

Many students were keen to learn English. This would enable them to continue their education in English speaking universities or relocate to English-speaking countries. Some wanted to be able t read newspapers of listen to news broadcasts to keep up to date with world affair and the situations in their own countries. Others wanted to become English teachers or work as interpreters. Some simply wanted to make their daily lives in Kampala easier by improved communication.

Jenkins Macedo was born in Liberia, he was forced to flee to Sierra Leone after the Civil War broke out in the late 1980’s, then to Guinea, Ivory Coast and Ghana. His journey as a refugee lasted 14 years at the beginning of which he was separated from his mother.

“You are sometimes isolated from the greater society; you have lots of needs which include education, food, shelter, clean and safe drinking water, and so on,” he explained, adding that “refugees feel rejected because citizens of most host countries develop several stereotypes and prejudices which make it difficult to integrate or fit into their society.”

Jenkins recalled that “I lived in Ghana at the Buduburam Refugee Camp for about 11 years and the experiences there were much different from what I experienced in Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Each country has it’s own laws and policies to deal with where the refugees live and their access to basic services. Often depending on whether the refugees are integrated into the communities of their host countries or treated separately.

“Things became even more difficult living in a refugee camp. Without employment and means to generate income most refugees find it difficult to survive throughout the day and they mostly relied on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the limited food supplies distributed per month,” he added.

In Ghana in 2004, Jenkins was intorduced to Marc Schaefer, founder and president of RESPECT. He then became program coordinator for RESPECT Ghana, which he did for two years before moving to the United States in December 2006 through the US Refugee Program.

He is now a student at Worcester State College, Massachusetts and still working with RESPECT as a technical advisor to RESPECT Ghana and a representative of RESPECT International based in Massachusetts.

“Working with RESPECT Ghana on the Buduburam refugee camp was great,” he said. “I was able to transform myself and overcome my own limitations, and develop the skills and zeal to help my people and unfortunate Ghanaians, Sierra Leonean refugees and countless other people from other parts of Africa.

“I like it and, someday, it is my hope to develop my own non-profit entity to help solve the issues of poverty in Africa by providing the skills that they can used to reduce poverty in their own communities.”

The Afghan Women’s Educational Centre (AWEC) is a non-political, non-profit and non-governmental organization established in 1991. Educated Afghan women started this organization in order to provide facilities for Afghan refugees in Islamabad Pakistan.

Their vision is “Establishing an environment where women and children can have their human rights without any violence and discrimination, apply a strengthened civil society based on democracy, justice and gender equality.”

RESPECT is collaborating with AWEC to provide post-secondary education to promising students in Afghanistan. This provides AWEC with access to RESPECTs knowledge and resources in order to enhance their knowledge. Therefore, the students gain an edge when competing for places in educational institutions or jobs. This collaboration is especially aimed at helping improve the living condition of the marginalised group of women and street-working children.

The Brownstones to Red Dirt website is the result of RESPECT International’s letter exchange program as experienced by non-refugee students in Brooklyn writing to refugee students in Sierra Leone. The website showcases the lives of students living in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, United States of America, with refugee students living in Freetown, Sierra Leone, aged between 10 and 12 years old. The website contains:

• A variety of photographs with subtle expressions.
• Inspiring videos of students from both countries talking about their lives and hopes for the future.
• Salone Diary: a daily report of the Brownstone Crew during their visit to Sierra Leone.
• Links to discover more about the places mentioned in the website.
• A mailing list to invite people to become part of the Brownstones to Red Dirt Community

Please visit this fascinating website: Brownstones to Red Dirt

Or for more information on this site click here.

For information on RESPECTs Letter Exchange Program click here.

Functional Adult Literacy

The aim of RESPECT International’s adult literacy program is to make adults functionally literate. The initial Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) programme provided three two-hour classes weekly: English, Entrepreneurship and Literacy. Class sizes ranged from 7 to 17, with a total weekly attendance of about 40. Held in a classroom which doubled as a waiting room for Legal Aid and Counselling clients with only a blackboard and chalk and 11 Functional Adult Literacy workbooks, it was a start.

The Program is Growing

Within a year they had 329 students enrolled. They established a four level program and a multi-level women’s program with three full time volunteer teachers. Moses Mugume, an intern from Makerere, assists Winnifred Agabo, the head of department of the FAL programme, with her research and training duties. David Bukenye is a full-time volunteer who supports the department by photocopying and assembling much of the education and training material, as well as taking care of photocopying for other Refugee Law Project (LAW) departments and the newest member, Rita Nammembwa. Gabriel Mugaruka has been assisting with teaching on a part-time basis. David and Gabriel are both refugees.

For more information click here.

A recent issue of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) online newsletter featured an interview of Mr. Ashok Pillai, the RESPECT University coordinator. You can read the article at http://www.unv.org/en/news-resources/news/doc/a-volunteer-without-borders.html.

Ntawangwanabose Célestin Buyore (or Célestin for short) is a teacher and a RESPECT International volunteer originally from the Republic of Rwanda, now living in Nairobi, Kenya and working at Saint Kizito-Kabiria. In Rwanda, 1994, between 800,000 and one million people were killed and it is estimated that some 500,000 people were tortured and murdered in a period of only 100 days.

“All of my relations died in the war,” Célestin said. “My mother and brothers were most likely killed in 1996 by the soldiers of the Front Patriotic of Rwanda (FPRInkotanyi) who are leading there now.”

Having survived the war Célestin now teaches at a school without funds. The school relies on small donations from the parents and the teacher work for free. The students there are proud to be getting an education and be part of RESPECTs letter exchange program. Many of the students are refugees who have lived in abject poverty. The letter exchange program provides them with an escape for a while as they learn about the lives of students from the United States and Canada.

“Due to poverty, the students are physically weak and many have experienced famine in their homes. They don’t have lunches. They get to school on foot and some are unaccompanied and orphans,” Célestin said. Taking part in the letter exchange program helps the students recover from the events of their past and look forward to a brighter future.

For further information on this story click here.

To find out more about the letter exchange program click here.

RESPECT International website.