ISSN 1710-6931 August 6, 2004 Issue 27
FEATURE ARTICLES

Democratic Republic of Congo Letter Exchange

by Bérengère Cortade

RESPECT International has successfully launched a letter exchange programme with the refugee communities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dieudonné Amisi Mutambala, RESPECT country coordinator, and his team have worked hard to implement the programme.

A total of 720 students, aged five to eighteen from several schools are taking part in the programme. 520 letters have been sent so far and 80 children have already found a pen pal from Anwatin Middle School, Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA). Katy Lynch efficiently coordinates the programme there. more>>

Ugandan IDPs to Receive Sun Oven

by Natasha Stolte

Beginning this year RESPECT International will be implementing a program to buy a much-needed Sun Oven for Ugandan internally displaced persons (IDPs). As our readers know, IDPs in many parts of the world live in situations near to or tantamount to abject poverty.

RESPECT is organizing the purchase of the Sun Oven to help provide nutritional meals to IDPs in Uganda, and to assist Ugandans in becoming more self-sufficient. more>>

Refugee Voices to be Archived

by Lina Sagaral Reyes

The Panos London unit of the Panos Institute will soon upload "Moving Stories", an online archive of English translations of the oral testimonies of the displaced people in Africa and Asia.

According to Siobhan Warrington, Moving Stories director, the project over the last five years, has supported partner organizations in six countries in Africa and Asia to collect oral testimonies from those who have experienced development-induced displacement. more>>

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Birth of RESPECT Australia

by Adrian Spinelli

I am proud to be the Country Coordinator of the newly organized RESPECT Australia. Thank you to Marc Schaeffer for his support in this last week in getting RESPECT Australia started.

Over the next 3 months RESPECT Australia will be:

  1. Working closely with RESPECT Guinea and Isaac Davis to find several schools to participate in the letter exchange program with Conakry Refugee School.
  2. Publicise RESPECT Australia and get the word out about us, contact as many schools as possible and possibly establish relationships with local, state, and federal governments.
  3. Establish a team of volunteers to work throughout the country to share the work load and get the word out about us.

I am looking forward to working with all the volunteers in RESPECT International, and if anyone requires our assistance just let me know.


Conflict Resolution Presentation

Francis Abayomi of RESPECT Nigeria and Adedayo Niyi Idowu of African European Young People Initiatives will be in Malaysia on the 17th of August 2004 to attend the 31st Biennial Global Conference of the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW). They will facilitate a workshop on conflict resolution titled A Case Study of Transforming Conflict in a Community.


Visit

On the 29th of July 2004 Francis Abayomi of RESPECT Nigeria, and Ngozi Eze of United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY) met with Ambassador Segun Olusola, Chairman of the Nigeria Refugee Commission and president of African Refugee Foundation in his office. Francis Abayomi used the opportunity to introduce the Respect Nigeria Cooperation Plan to the African Refugee Foundation.


As in any newsletter or magazine, RESPECT e-zine is committed to striving for interesting articles and announcements concerning refugee issues all around the world.

If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute an article, contact the e-Zine editor, Will Wallace at editor@respectrefugees.org.

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