Nakivale LibrAfrica Educational Center

As mentioned in previous post we have started a little community with the support from our friendly organization in Poland IICHD (www.iichd.org). We are trying to find the help from other agencies by applying for various grants. Most recently we have sent the following application to UNHCR, unfortunately again without any feedback. We are posting it here as it describes precisely what we are doing and what our goals are.

We are a nonprofit organization known as LibrAfrica in Uganda. Our mission is to empower communities to become sustainable through quality education and handicraft. 

We are involved the following activities:
    • provide education access to miserable refugee children,
    • train women in tailoring,
    • group farming to support these 2 projects.

We are operating in Nakivale refugee camp in Uganda since 15/8/2019. That day we started educating miserable and orphan refugee children who by financial limits and miserable lives they are forced to live in the camp where they are unable to access education.

When it reached March 20th 2020, the lockdown was imposed to the whole country which led to the total closure of all schools and other institutions. After seeing that the lockdown exceeded 90 days as promised, we initiated a handicraft training for the female parents of those children in sewing. Initially they hired a professional trainer/teacher but after 2 months we were unable to pay him. He left them towards the end of the year.

In 2021, schools reopened for only 2 months but later on they again locked the country for the whole year. and this when we resolved of starting a farming group as we thought of this being the only option we remained with for eking out our lives. The advantage of this was that we were able to involve even men in order to make it become a strong team.  We hired lands and planted corns that we harvested and took some shares to sustain our families on living costs and another share was spared for supporting the project. Ever since then this has become the only way through which we survive and support this project to the date. And as an achievement, we now have 3 rooms where those children continue to receive their education from having started with only one.

We also thought of our 2 sewing machines that could get spoiled once unused, we went and tried to make some negotiations with their professional trainer but he required a salary which we could not afford. This was when we resolved of starting training each other using the little knowledge that we acquired during the few months of initial training by the fact that everyone understood in her special way since people have different learning abilities. However, we are doing this as a way of keeping ourselves focused and protecting our machines from damage of keeping them unused but as matter of the fact we need a professional trainer. So far they are not experts but as an achievement in this, they mend at least clothes torn by their kids when it could cost them money to have someone to do it for them.

The last evaluated project’s impact in the lives of members was that, they all said their lives have become easier and they are likely to be self reliant in the future. As we thought of how best we can improve and strengthen the project, we found out that the strongest group that could have high impact are the youth yet this group is constantly being destroyed by alcohol, smoking and theft, joblessness and poverty. And in this project, we want to open the space for them. The following are some of the ways suggested on how to integrate them:

    • Training them in modern technology (computer science),

    • Initiating them to entrepreneurship to help them create their own opportunities,

    • Training them to do manual works such as making soaps and other handicrafts.

But for this integration to be possible, we need to add more equipment and to complete the buildings. And we believe that this could make us strive strenuously to achieve our goal all together.

So for us to broaden our activity in order to reach our vision we need the following: 

A. SCHOOL

• 3 doors for the rooms already built :  USD 215 ( $ 71.4 per each)
• 5 windows: USD 186 ( $ 35.7 per each)
• 24 desks: USD 618 ( $ 27.7 per each)
• basic office printer: USD 1200
• 3 new class rooms: USD 14.000 ($ 4666 per each)
• teachers’ books plus learning materials:  USD 1500

B. TAILORING  AND YOUTH TRAININGS (HANDICRAFTS)

• 6 computers: USD 3600 ( $600 per each)
• 6 months salary for 2 computer trainers: USD 1200 ( $100 each per month)
• 10 local sewing machines:  USD 1500 ($ 150 per each )
• 6 months salary for 2 professional trainers ( tailors): USD 1200 ( $ 100 each per month)
• electricity: USD 550

C. AGRICULTURE

• milling machine: USD 16.000
• trike: USD 2300
• water tank supplier: USD 510
• generator: USD 3500
• camera: USD 550

Transport and labor: USD 1330

TOTAL:  USD 49.959

Therefore, if you would like to donate in order to support this humanitarian work to attain our vision, please the following are our bank account details:  

IBAN: PL 41 1240 1037 1111 0010 9280 6310

SWIFT/BIC: PKOPPLPW

(this is through our organization in Poland, please visit www.iichd.org for more information)