East African Coalition

Peace For All Canada, African Women Alliance continue to provide after school homework support for children in grade 1-12 as well as Math and English tutoring program “Closing the Gap”. Both are moving fully to in person programming with all the necessary privacy and safety precautions for the children, families and volunteers. Program has resumed in 2023 on Saturdays at the Civic Hub.

As you may know, immigrant children are academically falling behind due to structural violence which is exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19 on them and their families. Few immigrant households have access to online education materials, computers and access to reliable Internet.  Many immigrant families, kids and youth do not have mechanisms to communicate online during the pandemic. In addition, most of parents work in low income, physically exhausting and unpredictable working schedule jobs which is all destructive to family and community relationships.

Advocacy to support families and communities

Peace for All Canada in partnership with African Women’s Alliance successfully led a number of projects that are geared to increasing capacity of immigrant African communities with equipment, resources and currently received funding from the Upstream Fund with the Region of Waterloo to work on advocacy in the educational system. The project will include a series of Circle Training session to reach families and educational workers and offer a culturally grounded ways to introduce anti-racism values, strategies and policies to benefit the children, youth, families and the society as a whole.

You can join the process to Build Capacity to Engage with School Systems and Support Students Success. Please read the call for the traditional African Circle Training and reach out to Peace for All Canada at peacelighthope1@gmail.com or 226-647-4585.

Projects during the pandemic years

In January 2021 PAC and Social Development Centre Waterloo Region facilitated a meeting between three organizations serving communities of African origin. The objective was to initiate dialogue to promote partnership, knowledge sharing and coordination among African people led organizations. The follow up meetings will continue monthly and will bring greater understanding and cohesion among diverse communities and cultures from East Africa.

Peace by Peaceful Means – January 28th, 29th 2021, and on 1th and 2th February, Peace for All Canada, African Women’s Alliance held online ethno-cultural Gender Based Violence workshops to introduce culturally appropriate dialogue and understanding of the family violence that is exacerbated by the social and economic realities and reassures during the pandemic. There is a plan to run the educational workshops on weekly bases to ensure continuity and community appropriate responses long term.

In February 2021, thanks to the funding from United Way, Peace for All Canada and its partners started ethno-cultural mental health education.

April 9 to 30, 2021 – The Peaceful Canada Mental Health Support Group presented a series of discussions to support mental health and wellbeing during COVID-19 from the African immigrant community perspective and cultures: promotion of mental health and self-care; accessing resources, information and advice on how to build a support network; sharing experience and learning from each other; shame, stigma and attitudes around the COVID-19 patients.

In May 2021, Peace for All Canada, African Women’s Alliance and Glimmer of Hope organized outreach in underserved neighbourhoods to support the recruitment and registration for vaccination together with the regional Vaccination Task Force.

Entering into 2022, through the Heritage Ministry funding, Peace for All Canada purchased technology, equipment and material for use of other African and immigrant communities, as well as, with the funding form KWCF started a radio programming for African and other immigrant communities to promote information sharing about issues they are facing, particularly housing precarity.

Contact us either by phone 519-7579-3800 ext.3 or civichub@waterlooregion.org if you wish to volunteer with the program.