Afrinspire |
Oxford Homless Pathways
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Afrinspire
The donation came through from Lincoln College (Thank you, Beatrice) and I have deployed it to Uganda. It will be used to fund the second year of FAL(functional adult literacy) groups among the women of the Women's Advocacy Network in Gulu where there are now 3 groups started by Rose Ekitwi. These women are the ones who have returned from abduction by the Lord's Resistance Army. Most were taken hostage when they were between 9 and 11 years old and spent between 8 and 10 years in captivity. All missed out on school and only a few continued with school when they returned to Uganda as grown adults. Many of them returned with children which they bore in captivity to the army commanders they were given to as wives (forced of course). Now the women are very keen to gain some literacy but also the other skills taught in the FAL programme which will help them improve their livelihood. They struggle to survive because they are not accepted back into their families, largely because a typical Ugandan woman with a child will be with the father's family, but for these women they often don't know the real name or identity of the father who was a soldier in the bush where they all used pretend names. Hence they don't really belong anywhere. The women are in a sort of limbo without a way to fit into normal Ugandan society, which is why they have formed themselves into groups to support one another. The FAL programme has started for 3 of these groups but there are another 13 groups yet to start. There are 550 women altogether in this Women's Advocacy Network. Thank you. Ian In some of the photos, the members are demonstrating writing their names, a new skill they have acquired through the FAL programme. There are also some photos of members with their certificates attesting to their new literacy skills. The donation from Lincoln College is greatly appreciated by Afrinspire and the members of the FAL programme you have helped to fund. |
Amazon Conservation Team
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