Kyaka Refugee Settlement is a big place filled with tons of people. Our community activists - all volunteers - help us reach them all. For Day 158 we asked them - how can we help you be more effective? "A bike will help me reach new far communities," said Patrick, one of the activists. "I may need to go 45 Kilometers to reach them and visit patients and see how they are doing.” 45 Kilometers is 27 miles! That’s over a marathon away to visit members of the community. Most people only dream of doing a marathon, and these activists are doing it in one day! Naturally, we couldn’t say no to a request for bikes. We delivered our activists brand new bikes that could take them all over the camp. And they were overjoyed. Not only can they now do their job better than ever, they'll have more energy to engage with patients -because they didn’t have to walk a marathon to visit them! … [Read more...] about Cruising Around Kyaka
Campaigns
A Sticky Situation
Yesterday, we helped introduce bee keeping as a new livelihoods skill inside Kyaka Refugee Settlement in Uganda. And today, we're helping to reboot some past bee-keeping enterprises! Our staff in Kyaka knew that the environment there was perfect for bees. And they even knew someone who had mastered the art of keeping bees and getting honey. But there was one problem. They didn’t have enough hives to make collecting honey and selling it viable. Their hives had also seen better days, and were looking a little rough around the edges. We had just the solution - better hives and more of them! Once the new hives arrived, we loaded them into the back of the truck and headed over to surprise the group of bee keepers. They were overjoyed to be able to start their business up again, and this time have the option to scale it in a feasible way. "When we arrived in Kyaka settlement, there was a lot of potential land for farming," one of the members told us. "So we formed a bee … [Read more...] about A Sticky Situation
Buzzing for Change
Over the next 7 days, the Changemakers 365 projects will be dedicated to a special member of the ARC family - Colleen Striegel. Colleen has dedicated the last 17 years of her life to serving with ARC. As she moves onto her next adventure, we wanted to do a couple ideas in her honor, about things that she cares so deeply about. First up? Bees! Bees are an important part of any ecosystem, and we wanted to make them an important part of the economy in Kyaka Refugee Settlement in Uganda! “The climate of Kyaka is very good for bees,” said one of the camp leaders. So we got to work. The first stop was to find some local bee hives. After finding a couple promising leads, we landed on a beehive-making master. He promised us that he could make hives that would attract bees so quickly, we’d have to set it up as soon as we got them. He wasn’t joking! Within a week there were bees buzzing around their new homes! We delivered 6 new bee hives to one of the leaders in the camp … [Read more...] about Buzzing for Change
Making Dreams Come True
El Salvador can be a tough place to grow up. With the highest homicide rate in the world, gang violence makes neighborhoods in the country’s capital of San Salvador lethal. Young people are targets of that violence – and targets for gangs who want them to inflict it. But there’s another truth. That hope is hiding in plain sight, within and throughout those same communities that face oppressive fear and brutality. That hope is brought to life in Javier. For Javier, it’s all about attitude. “I believe that attitude and the way you face the world is the way to open doors,” he says. “You open doors to different places and people. A positive attitude…it’s the most important thing.” Javier is a coordinator at the Youth Center in Apopa run by Catholic Sisters. They’ve seen his growth over the past few years, as he went from a participant to a leader in the group. “He has struggled and overcome,” said Sister Conchi. “He works hard and never asks for anything.” He sells … [Read more...] about Making Dreams Come True
Helping to Heal
In many of the communities where Catholic Nuns live and work in El Salvador, gang violence has paralyzed communities. But in La Chacra, a neighborhood in San Salvador, the Sisters are working hard to bring the resources and opportunities they so need. One among many services that the Sisters offer is primary healthcare. There are a couple of other clinics in the area, but theirs stands out in the community. "People come here because were offer a more humanistic service,” said Matteo, the clinic’s doctor. “They're treated with more dignity, and we have quality medicine. Here we treat people kindly and respectfully." The cost of a consultation at the clinic is very low, but there are still some patients that can’t afford the medications in particular. Matteo and his team have dreamed of finding ways to support those patients, in helping them get access to the right care they need. One idea they have is to start a revolving emergency fund - just for patients who need a … [Read more...] about Helping to Heal
Getting Ready for Home
Most of us don’t question where we’ll lay our heads at night. Home is home. But for the people that Father Mauro and his colleague Edgar serve, that just simply isn’t the case. For the past 130 years, the priests from Father Mauro’s congregation have provided shelters and advocacy for victims of human trafficking, displaced people, and others in desperate need – the most marginalized among us. For them, faith is action. “It’s not just singing,” said Father Mauro. “It’s living with people and working with people.” Over the past few months, this dynamic duo have been leading the construction process on the congregation’s 33rd shelter. They’re almost ready to open – they just need to check off a few more key things off their list. One of those things is cleaning supplies. It may seem a little boring, but actually, it’s a key part to what they do there. Father Mauro and Edgar think a lot about creating a dignified place for the people they shelter, who have been through … [Read more...] about Getting Ready for Home
Love of the Game
Some of our fondest memories growing are times spent with friends – maybe a quick pickup game of basketball, or riding our bikes around the neighborhood. But for kids in Apopa, El Salvador, finding a place to just hang out is no easy thing. With gang violence ever-present, kids in the neighborhood can’t use the nearby soccer fields. Or basketball courts. Or even walk down the street with ease. That’s why the Youth Center, run by Catholic Sisters, is so vital. It’s one of the only places young people can go to just simply be young – to do the things that childhood is made of. The Sisters at the center are always looking for ways to make their space better, more inviting. But they’re missing some things. “The other day the girls and boys were asking to play softball,” said Sister Conchi. “But we didn’t have the equipment.” So for Day 152, we’re doing something about it. We got the center gear for softball, basketball, soccer, and more! Enough to get the kids up … [Read more...] about Love of the Game
Under One Roof
It’s funny how you don’t notice how much you use something until it's gone. Or it’s broken. For the Catholic Sisters at the Apopa Youth Center, that thing is a printer. A printer is an incredibly useful tool to the Sisters. But it’s not only useful – sometimes, it can mean keeping kids safe. “When we print things, we have to search for different places in town,” said Sister Conchi, lamenting the fact that their office printer is currently defunct. “And we can’t send our youth coordinators to go print because it could be dangerous for them.” Apopa sits at the center of three rival gangs, making it treacherous for people to walk around freely. We saw an easy way we could help everyone stay out of the violence. We went out and purchased a printer for the Sisters, and voila! They could get printed materials safely again. “This is also going to be helpful for them to do homework,” said Sister Conchi. “They won’t have to go anywhere else.” Having access to things like a … [Read more...] about Under One Roof
Learning and Growing
Like many Catholic Nuns around the world, the Sisters at the Youth Center in Apopa believe in the power of education to transform. They know that a love of learning instilled early can blossom into opportunities, can be the spark to transform generations. That’s why it’s so important that in the Sister's kindergarten classes, they have the right tools to help kids learn and achieve. And according to Sister Conchi, education can also help them escape the cycles of poverty and violence. "Everyone is thinking about how they can be happy and grow,” she said. “If those guys don't become gang members, we have improved a lot." Because they’re limited on resources, reaching as many kids as they’d like to can be tough. But we wanted to give them the tools to be the best possible teachers for these little ones as they can be. And for Day 150, that came in the form of more educational materials! Yanira, one of the kindergarten teachers, went out to buy the supplies. She got … [Read more...] about Learning and Growing
Different Ways to Learn
All teachers know that different kids learn in different ways. And at the Youth Center in Apopa, El Salvador, the Catholic Sisters know that as many different kinds of lessons they can offer, the better. That’s why they really wanted a TV and DVD player for their kindergarten classes. “We’d use educational movies to help teach them the ABCs, numbers, and colors,” said Dorita, one of the youth coordinators. “We would take the best possible advantage of it.” For Day 149, the fix was an easy one – we bought the TV and DVD player and brought it over to the center! “This is so great,” said Dorita. “I’m grateful because you’ve brought many smiles and motivation for youth.” These kids don’t have a lot of access to educational resources, so watching DVDs is a way to bring the outside world to them. “It may seem small,” said Sister Conchi, “but for them it’s a lot.” … [Read more...] about Different Ways to Learn