RESPECT International Blog

A. Some information

- Any initiative that can promote the use of solar energy in our communities is welcome. This would be a window of opportunity for our organization “Artists for Humanity” (ArtHum), to explore the field of activity related to environmental protection, which has remained hitherto in our imagination, and many other related actions, despite the intentions of what we undertake.

- Long ago ArtHum was looking for an organization or network as a partner to develop certain activities on land, where activities that require both technical support and financial and material support. In other words, it would be unrealistic for our association, composed of people who volunteered for community causes during a decade (from December 1999 to date), to pretend to participate in this initiative without financial assistance and material consistent. Only with this kind of assistance we can return durability and increase our commitment to the cause of humanity.

- The term “refugee communities of war” should imply refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and their host communities as they are all subject to the same fate, and this in several ways.

- Moreover, the country where the ArtHum association is based, the Democratic Republic of Congo is full of large tracts of forest and large rivers that are resource rich and compelling, a border area of interest and transcontinental for nature conservation and protection of threatened species of flora and fauna. Constituting much of what is called the “Congo Basin”, already proclaimed as world heritage, this forest and these rivers are exposed to enormous threats of destruction and abuse, which the need to find affirmative ways to limit  damage and reduce risks related to such threats by providing local communities with their African peers and partners in the international community, alternatives instead of using firewood and other deforestation practices.

- In the same country (DRC), with similarities in other communities in neighboring states, people are experimenting with certain waterborne diseases and epidemics that decimated due to the use of untreated drinking water (or non-pasteurized), whereas in a cooking system that does not cost much in terms of energy and other resources such as solar cookers, these epidemics and water borne diseases can be considerably prevented.

- Based on these realities, it is for us ArtHum members a civic duty to support the initiative called “cook food with only the sun: the solar cooker. ”

The use of these cookers can be very useful in our communities. We could use instead of “braisiers (cookers charcoal Bambule commonly called), wood fireplaces, electric stoves, kerosene stoves and ovens called” improved “.

The main difficulties we can mention, in anticipation, is not primarily on the use of solar cookers, but it is mainly related to material resources, financial and human resources (trainers trained & motivated) for preparation of participants an effective awareness campaign on land and supplying equipment to the needy population.

Open collaboration!

RESPECT University was established to provide post-secondary instruction to refugee students under the guidance of tutors from around the world. We see this as a logical extension of the mission of RESPECT International to link refugee and non-refugee schools worldwide.

To accomplish this:

• We use experienced teachers who want to use their knowledge and experience to help teach students in refugee schools.
• Many of our tutors develop their own curriculum on a subject in one of their areas of expertise.
• RESPECT International then matches the tutor with a group of students. RESPECT facilitates the initial contact between the tutor and the students, and helps, as needed, to coordinate the learning process.
• Each class normally consists of six students.
• Teaching and learning are carried out by correspondence, using conventional postal mail services, although contact with local coordinators is maintained via email. The tutor sends a series of assignments which the students complete and then return to the teacher for comments and feedback. (Each assignment can take a month or more to be returned to the tutor because of limited postal service to areas occupied by refugees.)

If you are an experienced teacher, and are interested in volunteering to be a tutor, please complete our Tutor Information form. You will be asked for your name, contact details, qualifications and experience, subjects taught, and so on. Our coordinator will contact you, usually by email, within a week to discuss available opportunities.

If you are someone working with refugee students, and you feel your students would benefit from the educational opportunities RESPECT University can offer, complete a request form. You will be asked forcontact details, number of students, subjects of interest, and so on. Our coordinator evaluates your request and determines whether volunteers are available to meet your needs. Once that is completed, we will be in touch with the contact listed in the request.

In the future, we hope to expand the role of the University by:

• providing online courses on the web site for print out or for online study
• converting the course information and assignments from successful courses into web pages, to provide an on-line resource bank of learning materials.

If you have any questions or comments about RESPECT University, you can email our coordinator at university@respectrefugees.org.

If you do not yet wish to register as volunteer teacher or a student coordinator, but would like to be kept informed of developments of the University, please subscribe to our e-Zine.