Atuu’s One Book Project to Increase Literacy

by Raja M Ali

Everybody accepts that life can be unfair. But maybe it is not.

At the surface level, Atuu Waonaje’s life is an embodiment of injustice, cruelty and unfairness. He was born poor in an impoverished country and became a refugee at 15 years of age. Still a teenager, he lost his parents, had no possessions and was forced to take care of not only himself but also his brother.

How can fate be more unjust to a person? But looking deeper, we realize that while nature took many things away from Atuu, it also gave him gifts — such as compassion, drive and the confidence to make something out of nothing — which few of us can claim.

Turmoil, calamities and injustice didn’t bog down Atuu and while still in a refugee camp in Tanzania, he started CELA, the Centre for Youth Development and Adult Education, which was so successful that it won him the Women’s Refugee Commission Voice of Courage Award in 2007.

CELA, however, is an old story and Atuu is not resting on his laurels. He has recently started a new project called One Book Project (OBP).

Atuu observed that:

• There is neither a resource centre nor a library in his city, Fizi Territory (in the Democratic Republic of Congo), which means a large number of students have no access to information except what they learn at school;
• Young guys have not much to do after school. They generally do not have a habit of reading for pleasure or information and most even don’t know how to use a dictionary;
• People have books which are unused.

Ordinary people would have looked at the situation and done nothing but Atuu started OBP which collects books from various individuals and then puts them in a resource centre/library for use by locals. The main aims of the project are:

• Promoting a reading culture among community members who have lost that culture due to the war. Maybe starting a reading week.
• Empowering villagers with skills through books and connecting them with the world.
• Increasing literacy.

Atuu has already managed to collects a small number of books but for his project to achieve these aims, he needs your help. You can reach him by email.

Ase’Eci Primary Refugee School

Country:

• Democratic Republic of the Congo

Description:

• Primary School Ase’Eci has 6 classes, but only 3 are running due to the difficulties in the country.
• The school is situated near the Uvira-Fizi road in DRC. It is bordered by Lake Tanganyika in the East, by the mountains in the West, by the Kahama village in the North and by the Pemba mountain in the South.
• Lessons are given in Swahili and French.
• A penpal programme is vital for us.

Comments:

• 66 students are interested by RESPECT International programme and would like to find a penpal.
• Our school has numerous problems. We would like you to guide us, advise us and assist us, as you can, to try and answer the needs expressed by the children in their letters. We have no support to help them.

Help this schoo or other refugee schools like it from our website: http://www.respectrefugees.org/

RESPECT At UNV Conference In Bonn

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.

The Future For Refugee Youths

“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 News Reflector – A Refugee Free Press

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