“I had lost hope and didn’t know what to make of my life. I have been jobless for years, barely managing to survive day to day,” said Dalyop, a Nigerian Christian youth who lost his father when Islamist extremists attacked his village in Plateau State in 2008. Only two years later Dalyop’s mother was killed in another anti-Christian assault.
Dalyop is one of thousands of students now studying at a digital content creation training centre in Nigeria, supported by Barnabas Aid. Education and vocational training will open up possibilities for Dalyop, as well as for many Christians displaced by violence who did not have access to education previously.
Not only will this training help them find work or develop their own enterprises to earn a living, but it also provides a therapeutic outlet and avenues of self-expression after the persecution they have faced.
With support from Barnabas, thousands of young Christians in central and north-eastern Nigeria are being trained in digital content creation. Their passion and enthusiasm are huge. "You would not believe they come from devastated villages," said the project coordinator
Education is just one of 12 main strands of work where Barnabas is partnering with African Christian communities to help them become more resilient, self-sufficient and independent. We are calling this initiative Opportunity Africa.
“Now you have given me something to be happy about and live a productive life. I can only say thank you, May God bless you abundantly,” finished Dalyop.
Displaced Christians given livelihoods and dignity
“You have not just given us food and a means of livelihood; Barnabas Aid has covered our shame and restored our dignity,” said one of 20 displaced Nigerian Christian farmers who lost everything when their homes and food stores were burned down in an anti-Christian attack.
We have given the 20 farmers piglets to rear in other Christian villages in a relatively safer area, reckoning that pigs are immune from attack by Islamist militants who will not want to touch them.
Can you help us provide more piglets for Nigerian Christian farmers who have lost everything in Islamist attacks?
The plan, God willing, is that local churches will work together to develop a “meat market” with Christian butcheries. This will help farming families sell their pork. As the farms grow they will employ more farm hands, providing jobs for Christians in the area. Thus the economic situation of the whole Christian community will be improved.
From small and simple beginnings, like this, the projects can be scaled up, God willing, to become much larger enterprises.
Access to healthcare boosted
In Christian communities in Middle Belt, Nigeria, where there is limited access to health care, we are providing backpacks containing medical equipment, medicine and a minor surgery kit. These are being given to volunteers who have received basic medical training. The volunteers then become “first responders” to the general medical needs of their communities, and to victims of anti-Christian violence.
A pastor’s wife receives a Barnabas-funded medical backpack after receiving training as a “first responder”. Please help us to train and equip others like her
“This is removing the bitterness and hate and replacing it with hope and beauty,” said one of the first group of volunteers, all pastors’ wives.
How you can help
£10 ($24; €22) could provide cuttings of cassava and matooke (plantain) and training for five Ugandan Christian families to grow both crops efficiently
£49 ($59; €54) could provide a corn-grinding machine for a Nigerian Christian widow to set up a small enterprise
£60 ($72; €66) could provide a piglet for a Nigerian Christian farmer displaced by violence
£88 ($106; €97) could provide a medical backpack for trained “first responder” volunteers in Nigeria
