RESPECT REFUGEES International ISSN 1 71 0-6931 September 4, 2009 Issue 1 45 by Mohammed Riazuddin
Elite Friends Academy Offers Help to the Poor The Elite Friends Academy was opened on January 3, 2005, in Nairobi, Kenya, as a day-care center to assist those parents who could not afford to send their children to surrounding schools. The majority of the children are refugees, orphans, HIV/AIDS victims that come from poor families. The academy, which started with 27 students, was so named because the organizers see these children as leaders of tomorrow who, despite their status, have the right to be integrated into the community and to accept themselves. And it seems that the work they are doing is very much welcomed by the community as the student enrollment increased to 73 in 2008. Austin W Ngabwe, the RESPECT International's contact teacher for Elite Friends Academy, says that despite the challenges they are facing, they are able to carry on with their work. Austin, who is himself a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, hopes for a continuous cooperation between Elite and RESPECT. The Elite Friends Academy is a school working under a self-help group known as Ophrah African Foundation (OAF). The academy currently offers the following: baby classes, nursery classes and pre-unity classes. The objectives of the academy are to assist the orphans and vulnerable within the community, to become an international center for promoting and assisting talents, to campaign and fight against HIV/AIDS, to rid drug abuse from among the community, and to work towards peace and reconciliation. The Elite Friends Academy can be contacted at the following address:
Elite Friends Academy c/o Ophrah African Foundation P O BOX: 7909 - 00300 Nairobi, Kenya E-mail: oafi2003@yahoo.com Tel: +254 7231 25529 www.respectrefugees.org
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