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Our Projects
At CAFAR we work with refugee children, adolescents, women, and persons living with disabilities, . We prioritize upskilling carefully selected individuals from within the community to become facilitators, recognizing that sustainable programs are built on community ownership and empowerment. By empowering community members to take on leadership roles as facilitators, we ensure that programs are culturally relevant, responsive to local needs, and embraced by the community for long-term impact.
ACT-ing for change:
Buhuuka
Buhuuka, marked by severe impoverishment, has witnessed heightened tensions following oil discovery, leading to forced relocations, and exacerbating community disputes over land and resources. Consequently, there's been a surge in gender-based violence, sex work, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) challenges. In response, CAFAR collaborates closely with marginalized groups like sex workers, fishermen, and unemployed adolescents, upskilling and equipping them with community theatre and public speaking skills to disseminate impactful skits in locations often ignored, such as bars, boda stages, and by the lakeside, dispelling myths, promoting awareness on SRHR, and advocating for gender equality. This initiative not only serves to sensitize, foster awareness and advocate for the rights of the most vulnerable, but it also nurtures safer spaces for dialogue and disclosure among participants,
Creativity Clubs:
The Kool Kids of Kawempe
CAFAR's project in the Kawempe ghetto establishes creativity clubs that harness the transformative potential of break dance, art, and acting to uplift and inspire disadvantaged and orphaned children. These clubs serve as safe havens where children can cultivate friendships and explore their creative instincts, fostering a sense of belonging and hope. Moreover, participants in these clubs develop valuable life skills such as communication, language proficiency, critical thinking, and empathy through engaging in artistic expression and collaborative activities. Additionally, these clubs serve as platforms for community engagement, inviting family members, community stakeholders, and volunteers to actively participate and listen to the needs of the children. Empowered by community champions, these creativity clubs empower children to embrace their talents, navigate challenges, and envision brighter futures.
Expressive Empowerment:
Igniting Creativity in Kyangwali
This ongoing project at Cobuwras secondary school at the Kyangwali refugee settlement employs expressive arts as a transformative tool to address personal and societal challenges. Through mediums like poetry, narrative storytelling, scriptwriting, mural painting, and theatre, students engage in a process of identifying, understanding, and transforming their experiences and the issues prevalent in their community. By tapping into the power of artistic expression, students not only explore their own narratives but also collaborate to create collective works that shed light on social issues, fostering empathy, dialogue, and positive change within the school and beyond.
Play 4 Joy:
An Expressive Arts Programme
Our multidisciplinary team is spearheading the development of the "Play 4 Joy" program which aims to address the psychosocial needs of adolescent teens, especially young women who have experienced difficult life events. The programme works to aid in holistically processing trauma, fostering resilience, and supporting the reimagining of participants' futures. Drawing inspiration from McGill University's evidence-based "Plurality Theatre" program, which has been successfully implemented globally for over a decade, the 12-week initiative utilizes expressive arts methodologies to reduce stress, foster resilience, and enhance coping capacity. By leveraging the insights gleaned from studies on the effectiveness of the "Plurality Theatre" program, the Play 4 Joy initiative builds upon this foundation, offering a comprehensive framework rooted in participatory theatre expressive arts modalities and culturally embodied practices. Collaborating with local and international experts in the fields of psychology,
drama/expressive therapy, and trauma-informed programming, alongside teachers, adolescents, and community members, CAFAR aims to solidify Play 4 Joy as the first program of its kind in East Africa. Infused with the cultural richness of the diverse communities it aims to serve. Play 4 Joy creates an expressive safer space where adolescents can engage in emotive expression, drama, dance, music, narrative storytelling and art, fostering self-discovery, acceptance, emotional release, resilience, and new coping mechanisms.
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