Brothers of Charity - World roundup
Brothers of Charity – World roundup
Teaching how to fish at Aqua Lodge
Fracarita Tanzania and the Burundian NGO AHD started the preparation of an innovative project in Kigoma. Vulnerable local youth will receive a vocational training in order to increase their self reliance: “better to teach them how to fish instead of just giving them fish” is the underlying idea. During their training, they will renovate a small hotel (Aqua Lodge) of which the future revenues will be used as a source of income for the many social projects of Fracarita Tanzania.
Participation in Buddhist festival
On May 24th, the staff, parents and children of the disability services of the Brothers of Charity in Sri Lanka took part in the festivities of Vesak, the main Buddhist religious festival in Sri Lanka that celebrates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha. The participation of our catholic organization is a symbolic gesture of respect and openness towards other religions.
Football match to fight stigmatisation in Burundi
On May 24th, the neuropsychiatric centre of the Brothers of Charity in Burundi (CNPK) organized a football match between a team of psychiatric patients and a squad of the University of Burundi. The match can be considered as an effective sensitisation activity to bring about a change in mentality with regard to mental illness among the population.
Publication in medical journal
Earlier this year, the Pan African Medical Journal published a case report written by Dr. Marcellin Bugeme in collaboration with Dr. Bora Koba and other researchers. Dr. Bugeme and Dr. Koba both work at the neuropsychiatric centre of the Brothers of Charity in Lubumbashi. Their publication describes a rare condition they found in their practice, in which symptoms of a mental illness, such as the same delusional beliefs or ideas, occur simultaneously in intimately related individuals, in this case three sisters.
Capacity building in Rwanda
From May 27th till June 7th, all regional coordinators of our African and Latin American country offices gathered in Rwanda together with the regional bursars and regional superiors of the congregation for a two week training session organized by Fracarita International.
World Refugee Day 2013
On June 20th, the United Nations commemorates World Refugee Day. This year’s theme focuses on the fate of families who were forced to flee. Through education and mental health care, the Brothers of Charity are helping refugee families to regain hope for a better future.
On June 5th, two new buildings for addiction care and the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders were inaugurated near Kigali (Rwanda) by the Belgian ambassador to Rwanda, the president of Fracarita International and a representative of the Rwandan Minister of Health. The buildings are part of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital Caraes Ndera.
Unicef report on children with disabilities
On May 30th, Unicef launched the annual edition of its State of the World’s Children. This year it is dedicated to Children with Disabilities. The report examines the barriers – from inaccessible buildings to dismissive attitudes, from invisibility in official statistics to vicious discrimination – that deprive children with disabilities of their rights and keep them from participating fully in society.
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