RESPECT International Blog

Opened as a day-care center to help families who could not afford to send their children to the local schools, the Elite Friends Academy was opened on January 3, 2005, in Nairobi, Kenya. With many of the children being refugees, orphans and victims of HIV/AIDS the centre was so named because they believe that the children are the leaders of tomorrow and deserve to believe in themselves and be integrated into the community.

From 27 students in 2005 numbers have increased to 73 in 2008. The Elite Friends Academy is a school working under a self-help group known as Ophrah African Foundation (OAF). The academy currently offers the following: baby classes, nursery classes and pre-unity classes.

The objectives of the academy are to assist the orphans and vulnerable within the community, to become an international center for promoting and assisting talents, to campaign and fight against HIV/AIDS, to rid drug abuse from among the community, and to work towards peace and reconciliation.

For further information see our website.

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.

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 Problem

Many refugees arrive in Uganda with little or no spoken English. The problem this poses for them could be as simple as not being able to ask for a glass of water or as complex as not being able to testify at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), where the people responsible for wars and genocide are brought to justice. It makes is difficult for people to find work or a place to live and prevents them from building secure lives for themselves and their families.

Also, many refugees want to continue their education which may have been interrupted by war or use the degrees they already have from their country of origin. Many refugees need an opportunity to build a future for themselves.

Where RESPECT comes in

The Refugee Law Project (RLP) is part of the RESPECT University in Uganda. The program provides free adult literacy programs in various African countries, allowing refugees greater freedom to communicate effectively in English thereby increasing their possibilities for the future.

It was started in order to help people tell their stories to (UNHCR) to bring war crimes to justice, however, it offers many more opportunities than that. For those who are illiterate, they can start with Basic Literacy, or Functional Adult Literacy for those who don’t speak English or even Higher Education Services to help where people need to learn English to go to college.

Through RESPECT volunteer tutors provide the opportunities for this education. One Congolese refugee student, Pierre Mulowe, had his medical training interrupted by the war. He was able to continue his education through distance learning at RLP with a tutor based in Canada.

RESPECT coordinators such as Joan McDonald in Kampala, Uganda, download course material and distribute it and upload completed assignments back to the tutors.

For more information on Joan McDonald, see below.

Further Information

More informaton can be found on our website.

To read more on this story visit our ezine.

Helping People Help Themselves

Learning and education acts as a starting point for people to be able to help themselves out of poverty, in turn leading to a more peaceful society through increased prosperity. Jenkins Macedo held a book drive to supply educational materials, books and used computers to give people access to the education they want.

Mutual Inspiration

Linda St. Germain, a student at Worcester State College, United States, involved the student council in the book drive, taking the opportunity to benefit not only the African students but the students of her own college.

Another school to get involved was the Fanning Learning Center in Worcester: an alternative to mainstream school for students with difficult home lives. Theresa Venuti, a teacher at Fanning, encouraged her students to each bring books from home. The feeling of helping other people helped the students at Fanning to believe they can get over their fears and have hope in their own futures. The hope is that the students at Fanning will choose careers human service as a result of the first step taken here.

Further Information

For more information on the book drive click here.

RESPECT International website click here.

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