Nigeria

Women for Peace

In the flashpoint city of Jos, outbreaks of inter-communal violence have resulted in thousands of deaths and a deterioration in relations between Christians and Muslims. Women for Peace provides a space for members of each faith group to meet and work together.

The project is led and attended by 40 women (20 Muslims and 20 Christians) who coordinate educational activities, computer and literacy classes, baking, sewing and soap-making. Local youths are encouraged to attend reconciliation sessions, where they share experiences of suffering and ideas for peace. Youth engagement reduces the likelihood of radicalisation and in turn, reduces inter-communal tensions.

The project enables the launch of collaborative businesses. After 9-18 months of skill acquisition, funds are raised to provide loans for women to generate an income and become self-sufficient. Women for Peace is a pillar of reconciliation in the community, embraced by local imams and pastors.

Diocese of Jos

The Diocese supports thousands of vulnerable families across Plateau state and southern Kaduna. They provide life-saving food and medical supplies, home repair and farming materials, and access to education.

The Diocese has a proven track record of embedding projects within the community. They understand the needs of people at the grassroots. Through sustained engagement, they establish trusted relationships and build a sense of local ownership of development.

In 2021, we launched the ‘Roads to Hope: Education in Emergencies’ project. The initiative provides safer education to thousands of displaced children in the Middle Belt. The concept is simple: where it is unsafe for children to travel to school, we bring school to the children.

Our education vans are driven to displacement camps or villages, fully equipped with books, pens, a whiteboard, an electronic monitor and a solar- powered generator. Displaced teachers residing in the camps and villages are mobilised to teach the children, incentivised by a small stipend, which is crucial to allow teachers to focus on teaching rather than sourcing food.

Bari School and Clinic

Following deadly terrorist attacks in 2016, the then Anglican Bishop of Bari told us: “There is an awareness that has been created between the Muslims and the Christians because we are both from the same place and the mosque is now in as much danger as the church. They are in the same danger as us and they have the same fear as us. This has helped with cohesion.”

The school provides a safe, stable and supportive environment for students of each faith, supported by 15 qualified teachers. It delivers nursery, junior and secondary education, with a track record of enabling degree graduates in biology, chemistry, maths and agriculture.

Following support from HART and others, the school was expanded in 2019-20 to include 16 classrooms, four offices, a staff room, a Head Teacher’s office, a laboratory, a library and hostels for 50 girls and 50 boys, with three toilets and one shower in each hostel.

The neighbouring B.B. Ayam Clinic opened in 2010 and now provides a wide variety of treatment for 1,000 patients annually, 95 per cent of whom are Muslim. HART assisted with its initial construction. We also provided financial support for several members of staff and essential medical supplies. To this day, the school and clinic are embraced as a community venture. Muslims and Christians stand shoulder-to-shoulder to promote inter-faith reconciliation.

Ningi Interfaith School

HART was privileged to support numerous transformational projects at Ningi Interfaith School, Bauchi State. We coordinated the digging of a bore hole to provide clean water to the local community. We raised funds for a perimeter wall, necessary for security. We secured grants to build a multi-purpose hall, used for exams, lessons, parents’ evenings, sports and community peacebuilding.

The regional Anglican Bishop, Musa Mwin Tula, has prioritised education in his Diocese to enhance the knowledge, skills and values that will help young people to prevent the occurrence of conflict and to reimagine a more peaceful future.

At Ningi Interfaith School, Muslims and Christians work happily together in all three categories of trustees, staff and pupils; although a Christian foundation established by the Diocese in the early 2000s, the majority of students are Muslim. The Bishop speaks with a big smile when he says: “People say Muslims and Christians cannot live together. We show they are wrong.”