A View of RESPECT From The Ground

by Trent Newman

This is part 2 of a 3 part series featuring comments by RESPECT's Uganda Country Coordinator, Tom Fred Obonyo during a discussion with Trent Newman. Part one was published in the last issue if the e-Zine.

In order to gain some preliminary understanding of the implementation of RESPECT's programmes and also to glean from a local expert those issues that require the most attention, Trent met with Tom Fred Obonyo, co-coordinator of Agoro Community Development Association (ACDA) in Northern Uganda, and RESPECT country coordinator for Uganda.

Last issue, Tom Fred spoke of the tangible and intangible benefits of RESPECT's programme in Uganda, especially the Agoro community in Kitgum. In this issue he talks about the limitations and barriers: From The Ground

Distance Not An Issue For Letter Exchange Friends

by Annie S. Wesley

The Letter Exchange Programme initiated by RESPECT International continues to receive positive feedback from participating schools. The programme involves introducing refugee and non-refugee students through a pen-pal letter exchange.

Letters from refugee students are forwarded to a participating non-refugee school. The students then reply to the letters, and new friendships are born. Letter exchanges can be conducted as a class or a club activity.

An interview with Ms. Beth Glenney, a public school teacher from Brooklyn, New York, United States of America, serves to reinforce the success of the programme in partnership with a refugee school in Sierra Leone.

The two schools are a world apart in distance and culture but the letter exchanges seems to have reduced all barriers and brought the two entirely different worlds together. In the process, everyone involved is enriched. Letter Exchange Friends