REYNOLDS EDUCATIONAL MISSIONS AFRICA OUTREACH REPORT FROM CHANGIA AFRICA CENTRE AT NAKIVALE REFUGEE CAMP, ISINGIRO DISTRICT. DATED 07-08/April/2023
Changia Africa Centre is located in Nakivale refugee camp, which has an estimate of over 138,140 settlers and is about 200km away from Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. Changia Africa Centre is a non-profit community organization founded and directed by Rusagara Eric Wane, with the goal of impacting other refugees’ lives through free educational services, poverty eradication teachings, and life-skilling programs.
On the evening of April 7th, 2023, our team from Reynolds Educational Missions Africa, led by Mr. Conrad Leonard, our Country Director, and Mr. Tibeijuka Paul, the Country Program Director, traveled to Nakivale Refugee Camp. Upon reaching Mbarara district on the morning of April 8th, they were joined by Mr. Musinguzi William, a passionate member of the organization, and the team proceeded to Nakivale refugee camp.
By 11:00 AM, the team had reached Changia Africa Centre, where they were welcomed by the organization's founder, Mr. Rusagara Eric. They held a brief meeting to strengthen our relationship with Changia Africa Centre and identify how both organizations could establish a healthy partnership. During the meeting, Mr. Eric shared some of their challenges that they would basically need help with, including:
- Improved educational facilities: He told our team that they faced a problem of limited classes as they tried to offer free education services to refugee children. He further explained how it was challenging for them to feed and provide scholastic materials to the children since their parents couldn't afford to support their education programs, which has greatly affected them since they experience a high school dropout rate.
- Poor health services: He expressed concern that as an organization, they have tried so much to advocate for better healthcare for their community. This has been done through sensitizing people in their communities, and he acknowledged that so many people in the camp are killed by malaria and pneumonia. He requested that we could start by advocating for mosquito nets and clean water for their community.
- Agriculture: Much as the organization doesn't own so much land, its members look at practicing animal crop farming as one way that could improve their livelihoods since they lack adequate capital to invest in better money-generating programs.
At around 12:30 PM, the team went on to meet the other congregation of more than 120 people that had come to attend our teaching about our "Think to Prosper" book, which teaches self-help principles. Its teachings are based on the LogicDie. We were able to give out around 200 copies of books to members and some to their leaders to share with other communities in the same camp. We also gave out LogicDie to help them in their learning process. It was a good learning and teaching experience, and the attendees expressed their satisfaction. We were able to share a few refreshments with the attendees.
By 2:30 PM, our team concluded their teaching sessions and had created time to mingle with people in the refugee community, took a few pictures during their light moments, and later prepared for their journey back to our offices in Kampala, using the night bus. By God’s grace, they arrived safely and sound, ready for the next outreach.
Although our team experienced a few challenges like long traveling hours, bad dusty roads, and language barriers, we are still grateful to God for having enabled us to have a very successful mission. We want to take this opportunity to appreciate each and every one.
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