Here is John Dada's August report for Dadamac and Friends of Nigeria
August, 2011
Normalcy is slowly returning to the town of Kafanchan and its environs that were traumatised in the April 2011 election violence. It has been a trying time for all Kafanchan residents since the violence broke out. There are still occasional rumours of impending reprisal attacks, but the presence of armed security personnel has been re-assuring.
Many who had fled Kafanchan for the safety of their villages have now returned. Most have returned to clear the rubble of their burnt homes and businesses, and many have set up stalls at the new market site. It is a testimony to the preference of most of the residents for a peaceful resolution, that all the stalls in the new market were entirely self-effort. Government role has largely been limited to stall allocation, and this explains why basic infrastructure such as toilets, safe water sources, drainage are still absent in the market.
Recapitalising micro-businesses
Fantsuam Foundation clients are among the hardest hit by the old market arson: most of them lost everything: cash, goods, entire stalls. Repayment of their loans has been uppermost as they visit Fantsuam Foundation to request for a moratorium for repaying their loans; they have all been pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the reception they received. Fantsuam Field Officers have completed an assessment of their clients’ losses and a loan support scheme has been successfully launched to support the clients according to their needs. So far, 37 clients have received small grants of NGN5,000 each (total NGN185,000) while 12 of them have received additionalNGN25,000 each (total NGN300,000) to re-capitalise their small businesses. Fifteen students whose homes were burnt down have also been given scholarships NGN18,300 each (total NGN274,500) to continue their certificate and diploma-level computer studies at the Fantsuam Academy. The financial support for these activities have been received from Dadamac-UK (NGN150,000, this is in addition to an earlier N60,000 towards purchase of foods, medicines etc)
Friends of Nigeria (NGN660,000, this is in addition to the earlier farm inputs grant of N350,000 for women to do their farm work, and payment for our bandwidth for the quarter ending September 2011) and the balance of NGN420,000 was contributed by the Fantsuam Board of
Directors.
Building bridges across the ethnic communities and religious groups of southern Kaduna
Building the peace has become a major and continuous undertaking for Fantsuam Foundation. We have held several meetings with various ethnic groups, and have linked up with a youth group.
Recently the Human Rights officer from the American Embassy also visited Fantsuam for consultations on post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction efforts.
In the coming months Fantsuam Foundation’s focus will be around the following issues
1. Mobilising support for its women microfinance clients as they rebuild their homes and businesses
2. Supporting victims like Ajala, who still has a bullet lodged in his right eye http://dadamac.net/blog/20110706/going-effects-post-election-violence
3. The violence in Kafanchan draws strength from what is happening in neighbouring city of Jos, Plateau State. Fantsuam Foundation is linking up with peace activists on the Plateau for A Truth and Reconciliation
4. Continuing with the bridge-building efforts across Sectarian divide and explore income generation and career development opportunities for the youths who are usually at the vanguard of the communal violence.
5. Supporting the new market committee to become more Inclusive and ensure the interest of all who lost stalls in the old market is protected. It is important to make this a truly community-centered market
For more information or to support Fantsuam Foundation, please email info@fantsuam.org, visit
www.fantsuam.org or contact +234 (0) 703 8340719.