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NEWS & EVENTS

Coming up: iACT for Refugees event in Portland, Oregon!

Calling all Portlandians! Come to the new Lagunitas Community Room on Sunday, October 16th to learn more about us, iACT, and our mission to aid, empower, and extend hope to refugees facing humanitarian crises in central Africa. From 5:30-8:30pm there will be multiple beers available on tap from Lagunitas, snacks by Le Pigeon, Little Bird and Stella Taco. There will also be a live jazz band, a raffle, silent auction, a refugee tent exhibit and a short presentation. Some of t

Become a Sustainer of Action

Join a group of people changing the world in the most effective and efficient way possible: Sustainers of Action. Sustainers of Action support both the immediate needs and the expansion of iACT’s innovative, community-based programs in central Africa. They make it possible for iACT to be flexible and responsive in difficult environments and to look outside the box for refugee-led solutions. As a Sustainer of Action, you’ll be contributing to our work with refugees and you’ll

Sundays, Books and Connections

As I write this, its Sunday. I’m working, but happily so. A day of rest is conducive to sitting with my computer, coffee and no distractions. I know I’m not the only one. It‘s safe to say the i-ACT team rarely stops. I receive emails at all hours and days of the week. But again, happily so. I sit in my room writing and working, I’m surrounded by the books I’ve kept over the years. The pages I’ve read, marked, folded and highlighted. Most having to do with development work, Af

World Peace Dreaming at the Bagel Shop

I sit in an air-conditioned bagel shop, drinking my ice-cold diet coke (already on my 3rd refill) after already eating two bagels with reduced-fat cream cheese. Around me are healthy, smiling beach-bound young men and women. Some mothers talk about their long weekend, as their well-behaved kids munch away. One more refill of diet, and I continue to read about the horrific violence in Syria; then look at video interviews of newly displaced Darfuris; then re-read a message from

10 Things I’ve Learned – on my 16th trip to Darfuri refugee camps

(in no particular order) 1. Showing up is important. Coming back creates friendships for life. 2. There is absolutely no excuse for the world allowing Darfur to burn for over ten years. 3. You can find other people that will be willing to come out with you and “participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.” 4. Some children will laugh and play, even when surrounded by violence and suffering. They should not be forced to demonstrate this type of resiliency. 5. Bumpy rides

June 8th: a Magical Day

Exactly a year ago, I was in Iraq with an all-refugee team from Darfur making its first appearance in an international competition. The Viva World Cup was one of those beautiful and surreal experiences that I’ll never forget. Today, I was in refugee camp Goz Amer, at the official presentation of a beautiful preschool for the refugee community. Being there with the young refugee women that are the first generation of Little Ripples teachers is hard to describe. After more than

Little Ripples Teacher Training and Assessment

The i-ACT team continues their time in refugee camp Goz Amer with the new teachers and students of Little Ripples! Here are a few excerpts from recent blogs: Jennifer, i-ACT’s Little Ripples Coordinator, writes, In the afternoon I helped out with the assessment side of things. We asked a group of ~5 mothers to bring their Little Ripples aged children in for the interview team to practice going through the three-part questionnaire. I think so far this has been the best part of

Little Ripples Teacher Profile: Haleyma

Haleyma, now twenty-one, was twelve years old when she started first grade of primary school—a week after she arrived in refugee camp Goz Amer. She was very afraid to come to the camp because people were telling them that “there is people that eat people in that camp,” to scare them away from coming. Her parents told her and her eight siblings to not be afraid, “Those are lies.” Haleyma had not started school when she was younger and still living in Darfur because her fathe

Goz Amer Community

In preparing for the opening of the first Little Ripples early childhood education center, the i-ACT team met with community and tribe leaders from various camp “neighborhoods” or sectors. They also met with mothers and future Little Ripples who might attend the school. In the coming days Nathan from the University of Wisconsin Survy Center will be training refugees to help conduct a baseline and control group assessment. One of our priorities is to ensure that our program is

New Darfuri Arrivals

After 10 years of devastation in Darfur, renewed violence has led to more than 300,000 newly displaced in the region. Here are images of Darfuri families who have just arrived in refugee camp Goz Amer. With annual rains already falling, relocation and resettlement is even more challenging in a region where supplies are not readily available. The i-ACT team visited the newly resettled refugees and delivered care packages funded by the i-ACT community. [monoslideshow id=15] [di

Darfuri Jacks

[divider_2] Support i-ACT i-ACT is supporting programs in the camps that are important to the refugees, like education and sports. Please support them! Donate [divider_2] #ACT #Darfurirefugee #refugees #Support

Little Ripples Teacher Training Day #1

It was an another amazing and productive day! We finally began our teacher training! Jocelyn and I had 19 young women candidates to work with today. The future Little Ripples teaching staff are between the ages of 14-21 years of age. We had the assistance of Ahmed Hassan Yagoub to help translate for us. We met Ahmed Hassan Yagoub a couple of days ago when we met with a group of primary and secondary teachers. He is a secondary school english teacher but also a primary school

Video: The First Little Ripples Center!

We did it! The first Little Ripples center is set to be finished this week and we got to tour the amazing campus with the whole LR team. Here’s a video of our project coordinator Jennifer Tang presenting the beautiful center to the world. Thanks for all your support, we couldn’t have done this without the Little Ripples community! [divider_2] Support i-ACT i-ACT is supporting programs in the camps that are important to the refugees, like education and sports. Please support t

A Kind of a Stopwatch

There’s a classic Twilight Zone episode called “A Kind of Stopwatch” in which a man comes into possession of a stopwatch that can stop time while leaving him free to move around the world unwatched and alone. He goes to rob a bank, but drops the watch, breaking it and thereby freezing time permanently. The episode ends with him desperately trying to reanimate the world and screaming “Somebody move!” But the world remains motionless, petrified. I was reminded of the episode to

In the Moment in Eastern Chad

i-ACT’s Gabriel Stuaring, James Thacher and the Little Ripples team are in eastern Chad documenting the stories of Darfuri refugees and opening the first Little Ripples’ center. This trip, i-ACT #16, coincides with the 10th anniversary of the start of the violence in Darfur and the more than 300,000 newly displaced in the region. [divider_2] Only 76 steps each lap, so I ran quite a few laps during my 30 minute jog around a tiny small space inside the UNHCR compound that is ou

Little Ripples: Planning and Preparing for Teacher Training

Today was such a productive day! The team got the chance to talk with a few of the primary teachers today. Ahmed Hassan Yagoub, who teaches first year students (students who are between the ages of 6-8 years of age) was especially helpful. Jocelyn and I had many questions about the daily teaching routine. Ahmed was able to provide us with insight into the primary grade students daily schedule. We also had great discussion about the current lack of education for younger childr

New Faces in Old Places

i-ACT’s Gabriel Stuaring, James Thacher and the Little Ripples team are in eastern Chad documenting the stories of Darfuri refugees and opening the first Little Ripples’ center. This trip, i-ACT #16, coincides with the 10th anniversary of the start of the violence in Darfur and the more than 300,000 newly displaced in the region. [divider_2] When I first visited these camps in 2005, both the refugees and I believed that they would be going home soon. We are now seeing a new w

Video: A Darfuri Celebration

i-ACT’s Gabriel Stuaring, James Thacher and the Little Ripples team are in eastern Chad documenting the stories of Darfuri refugees and opening the first Little Ripples’ center. This trip, i-ACT #16, coincides with the 10th anniversary of the start of the violence in Darfur and the more than 300,000 newly displaced in the region. [divider_2] Camp Djabal threw us a party before we left last week. Here’s just a taste of what we were treated to. You can learn more about the even

Favorites

i-ACT’s Gabriel Stuaring, James Thacher and the Little Ripples team are in eastern Chad documenting the stories of Darfuri refugees and opening the first Little Ripples’ center. This trip, i-ACT #16, coincides with the 10th anniversary of the start of the genocide in Darfur and the more recent influx of 300,000 new refugees into the region. It was a day full of emotions and moments. I asked our team to pick their favorite photo of the day. I’m sure it was as difficult for oth

1 Victim, 2 Victims, 3…When do we stop caring?

i-ACT’s Gabriel Stuaring, James Thacher and the Little Ripples team are in eastern Chad documenting the stories of Darfuri refugees and opening the first Little Ripples’ center. This trip, i-ACT #16, coincides with the 10th anniversary of the start of the genocide in Darfur and the more recent influx of 300,000 new refugees into the region. I’ve been rereading a presentation, The More Who Die, the Less We Care, by Professor Paul Slovic, about what he calls “Psychic Numbing,”

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