Nearly four months after Kafanchan’s post-election violence, we were sad to learn from John Dada that staffing at Fantsuam is still suffering the effects.

Chollom, the network administrator who was displaced during the troubles, has now understandably relocated to Jos. Likewise Yakubu, a recent arrival, has also returned to Jos at the insistence of his worried family.

Before the troubles Kafanchan was widely perceived to be safer than Jos, so the UK team were disturbed to learn from John that this is no longer true. He said: “I think this is the often unseen and untold price that organisations and individuals continue to pay for sectarian violence, even long after the incident itself. Jos now appears safer than Kafanchan - but the FF view is, if we did not stay to promote the peace, who would?”

On the positive side, two new female volunteers have joined FF, one of whom will be taking over the role left vacant by Yakubu's departure.

To learn more about the situation at Kafanchan please read Lagun Akinloye’s article for Think Africa Press, which the team were also pleased to see had also appeared in the Daily Times. John said: “I was wondering where the Daily Times story came from, then I realised it was Lagun's report! It was very well written, and Daily Times has a high urban circulation in Nigeria. The national exposure which Lagun's article gives us is great.”

I am sad to report that this week’s online meeting between thIe UK and Fantsuam Foundation brought some distressing news. We have long been aware of the type of local community responsibilities that John Dada shoulders, and yet again this became apparent during our latest session.

The weekly online UK-Nigeria meetings have been established in their present format for more than three years. However, following Nigeria’s terrible post-election violence, John this week identified a new and unexpected benefit of our regular sessions - explaining that the Dadamac meetings are “evolving into a balm, a tonic, a forum where Fantsuam Foundation can unburden ... a psycho-social element of our weekly meeting”.

The rural community has been badly shaken by the attacks and, although the news reporters appear to have moved on, the real story is still unfolding. For example, how people from both sides of the religious divide are rebuilding trust and their fragile economy with minimal Government support - save from the presence of soldiers and the curfew which we suspect helped to reduce the number of casualties.

Shortly after the burning down of the vital Kafanchan market in April and during these weekly meetings, the idea of first a peace market and more recently the women peace traders has taken shape. It is therefore very pleasing to report this week that six women have now been given their N30,000  (part grant, part loan) to restart their businesses and that the new market, located on the road to Kagoro was opened on June 6th.

John joined this week’s online UK-Nigeria session from Abuja, where he was due to attend a number of meetings - the most significant of which from our point of view was with the French Embassy. At this, John was to discuss the promised support for Attachab. Meanwhile Kelechi and Chollom joined us from Fantsuam while the UK provided three participants, based in Leeds and London.

We were pleased to hear there are reports of some semblance of normality returning to Kafanchan as people of all faiths were beginning to interact at the old and new market sites.

John informed us that as yet there have been no Government directives on the re-building of the market. Apparently it is not yet seen as a priority. He said the Committee was going to see how best to fit/feed into whatever the Government may eventually choose to do. In the meantime they are trying to meet the needs of their local community.

John also informed us that so far one woman has collected her N30,000 loan towards restarting her business - and that the remaining six beneficiaries will receive theirs when Comfort returns.

These women clients were selected by the field officer. John believes that five are  Christian and the remaining two are Muslim. This reflects the proportion of these religions in FF’s clientele. John also pointed out that each woman trader is in turn supporting at least six family members, including their children, spouse, aged parents etc

An Executive Summary by John Dada

  I received this email from John Dada - which tells the human stories of the post - election violence in Kafanchan and the need for on-going humanitarian support.

"  I am writing to thank you all for your phone calls and emails when you heard of the outbreak of post-election violence in Kafanchan. The violence was ferocious and widespread from the night of 19^th April. The Fantsuam Foundation compound was home for over 200 displaced persons, assisting them with basic shelter, food and clothing. Our Health Centre services were in high demand because the Kafanchan General Hospital was shut down and all patients forcibly evacuated. Our Finance Officer’s mother who was on admission sustained a fracture when armed men invaded the hospital.  Fantsuam Foundation undertook the evacuation of patients with gunshot wounds to the Kaura Rural Hospital.

FANTSUAM FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT - MARCH – DECEMBER 2010

Executive Summary – JOHN DADA (CEO)

Through the commitment and dedication of staff, volunteers, partner organisations and donors, Fantsuam Foundation has this year continued its journey towards its vision of becoming the most effective model of rural development in West Africa. Our integrated approach is enabling us to continue improving on the level of impact and change we have on individual beneficiary's life, e.g. an OVC client benefiting from psycho-social support as well as being supported to develop a secure livelihood through BDS training and a loan to get started in business. Organizationally we have also continued to implement our comprehensive Organizational Development plan, making great strides in strengthening the capacity of our staff and volunteers, our systems, processes and procedures to enable more effective and efficient working.

This information was received from John Dada today:

"Fantsuam Foundation is a member of a consortium that has been working on a UNDP-sponsored project aimed at improving survival and quality of life for children with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) by instituting early infant diagnosis and establishing standardised care that is sustainable through capacity building of service provision in a comprehensive manner from laboratory diagnosis, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.

Other members of the consortium on this project are:

ONE team member described this week’s UK-Nigeria meeting as “very thought-provoking”. Well I can certainly concur with that!
The bulk of the session was spent discussing the Knowledge Resource Centre. It was important that the team all shared their vision of what the KRC future might be.
One of the fundamental starting points was for us all to recognise the importance of our own learning journey. This is a “foreign” concept for many, who often see only formal accredited education as having worth or importance.
The group were able to see that the staff at Fantsuam Foundation are in fact incredible role models. All are self-directed learners - each with their own unique and impressive learning journeys. One example is Comfort who attended some initial basic workshops re Microfinance, and has gone on to establish the very successful and sustainable Microfinance programme at Fantsuam in rural Nigeria. She is now regarded as a true expert in this field, able to offer valuable insight and training for others both locally and globally.