The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well. An Austrian psychologist called Dr Alfred Adler made that observation in the early 20th century. It deserves a wider audience because so many unhappy people would benefit from knowing they are not unique or alone in their unhappiness. World Mental Health Day October […]

The International Day of Peace is a good moment to consider the words of the French philosopher Blaise Pascal. Four hundred years ago, he wrote: All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone. Every day at Network for Africa, we confront the consequences of peoples’ inability to refrain […]

We drive up a rough, rutted road of red dirt to a simple, rectangular, breeze-block building with a corrugated iron roof – the community meeting place or village hall. The sound of roosters crowing drifts across the valley, along with the aromatic smoke from cooking fires. Below us on the valley floor, women in dazzling […]

For twenty years, we have worked in Rwanda. Yet, we have been aware there is also great need for what we offer in the less well-known country next door, Burundi. Like Rwanda, it is green and mountainous, with most of its population depending on subsistence agriculture. It exports coffee, tea and fish, and it had […]

The word network implies joining people together for a purpose. That’s what we have tried to do since we began working in Africa. We decided to find credible local partners rather than starting from scratch. In our case, poverty was the mother of invention – we didn’t have the money to build an empire. We made connections and […]

This may be familiar to a few people reading this newsletter: you had a relative who returned from military service. They never wanted to talk about what they saw when they were at war. When others reminisced, they sat in silence, nursing a glass of whisky. Perhaps they were interned in a prisoner of war camp. Thirty years […]

Karl Marx would not approve of what we are doing. But Carl Jung would. Network for Africa and its local partners support survivors of conflict as they chart a path out of trauma and back to living a fulfilling life. Counselling is a vital part of the process. But without a way to make money, it […]

The theme for this year’s international women’s day is “inspire inclusion.” This seems like common sense when translated into plain English. Yet, in much of the world it is unthinkable that women are included in decision-making. In her book about the ways women are caught up in conflict*, Christina Lamb points out that the places […]

Each Valentine’s Day we are bombarded by images of romantic love. Yet, there is another form of love that isn’t often rewarded by chocolates, flowers or cards – the love and sacrifice demonstrated by caregivers. Their devotion is often needed every day, at all hours. Around the world it is a duty performed mainly by women. […]

Network for Africa depends on the kindness of our supporters. Many of you have been with us since our humble beginnings almost twenty years ago. Thanks to your help, our projects continue to offer survivors of conflict an opportunity to transform their lives for the better. Today, we would like to remember three friends who are no […]