Bob Hansens
Austin,
TX —
United States
a FORGEnow member for: 4 months
To decrease disease and pregnancy-related deaths by providing access to health information and resources in Mwange Refugee Camp.
In Mwange, one small clinic serves over 20,000 people. Overcrowding and frequent shortages of medications and supplies lead many refugees to avoid being treated for their illnesses, and pregnant women tend to be particularly hesitant to seek medical attention. The Mwange Health Center acts as a medical liaison – disseminating information about healthy living and disease preventative while building knowledge about common ailments and their symptoms. The Center works closely with the local clinic, referring people who need medical attention and dispelling myths and fears. With a particular focus on women’s health, the Center’s workshops on maternal and reproductive health are always booked with long waiting lists of women eager to learn about their bodies and how to keep their children healthy and safe.
To improve access to medical care and health education in one of the most populated refugee communities in Meheba Settlement, which has not had a working clinic for more than five years.
Geographically, Block G in Meheba Refugee Settlement finds itself at a drastic disadvantage in terms of receiving health services. Located at the back of the camp and far from any clinics, the refugees of Block G feel isolated and underserved when it comes to medical attention. When FORGE brought this community together to determine what they needed, the answer was clear: an opportunity for healthier lives. After an extensive needs assessment the refugee project leader explains that, "the findings showed clearly that the population of all ages and classes suffered pain of lack of medical services." Thus they designed the FORGE Health Service project, which will enable patients who can’t make it to the nearest clinic get basic medicines, allow pregnant women to get delivery assistance by trained midwives; and give children access to the care that they need. This project will help all 2200 people in this block to live longer and healthier lives.
To decrease the incidence of unnecessary illness, death and disease in Kala camp through educating adults and children about healthy living and disease prevention.
Knowledge about how to build healthy families, live healthy lives, and treat and avoid illness is among the most highly-sought after information in the refugee camps in which FORGE works. The refugee staff of Kala Health Services takes a holistic approach to health education by teaching about disease and illness by focusing on human anatomy and body systems. From this solid foundation, students learn about how diseases are contracted, spread, and avoided. Serving more than 800 people each month, Kala Health Services has seen marked improvements in the camp’s knowledge about caring for and maintaining their own personal health. This knowledge will be especially important upon return to Congo, where many people have no access to formal health services.
To empower women to develop the confidence and skills to serve as leaders and agents of social change in their own lives, with their families, and in their communities.
Despite being the lynchpins for the families and communities, women in Mwange face particular challenges as they are more vulnerable to poverty, discrimination, violence, and health problems than are men. Not afforded the same opportunities as men, women generally work in the home and have few opportunities for social or economic control. Some women in the camp suffered egregious sexual violence during conflict and displacement, and remain vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence in the camp. To address these gender imbalances and restore the dignity of half the camp’s population, the Mwange Women’s Center empowers females to take more control over their health and their sexual and political rights. This project was designed by the women of Mwange to give themselves a role in the worldwide women’s movements that have been successful in creating a greater voice for women, and in empowering women to improve their own lives.
To develop the skills, knowledge and confidence of refugee women by providing a safe space for women to work together, create, learn and expand their horizons.
The strength and leadership that female refugees provide bolsters their homes and communities on a daily basis. Working with FORGE, Angolan refugee Jacqui B. established the Meheba Women’s Center in 2005 to encourage and support women in the Meheba community. To this end, Jacqui B and the staff of the Meheba Women’s Center, in conjunction with FORGE, have created a place for women to pursue vocational training, workshops on their gender-specific rights, and informal counseling services to address cases of rape and domestic abuse. Today, the Meheba Women's Center, managed entirely by refugee women, is a vibrant and bustling cornerstone of the Meheba Community.
To provide post-secondary scholarships for exceptional refugee adults who have been accepted to universities and vocational schools in Zambia.
For many refugees in Zambia, secondary school is a privilege, and university seems an impossible proposition. Not only is university tuition expensive, but obtaining the legal approval to leave the camp and travel to a campus is nearly impossible for these refugees given their limited resources for communication and navigating the Zambian system. This situation is tragic, given that many of the refugees with whom FORGE works are exceptionally intelligent and academically motivated. The FORGE Post-Secondary Scholarship Fund provides the structure and means for these exceptional students to attend university, obtain a degree, and outfit themselves with the qualifications necessary to find a job upon their return to their home countries. Many of these students have chosen to focus their studies on nonprofit management, in the hopes that they can use their education to give back to their communities and build strong systems for the future.