Corporate Social Responsibility
Standing with survivors of violence in Southern Kaduna
Since 2019, we've walked alongside survivors of violence in Southern Kaduna — starting with something simple: clothing, delivered every Christmas, to families who had lost everything.
The year we began this work, delivering Christmas clothing to displaced families in Kaduna.
The year we added trauma healing to our outreach, combining medical screening with art and group therapy.
Survivors who came through our 2025 trauma counselling programme in Southern Kaduna.
Our story
Our partners at the Resilient Aid Dialogue Initiative (RADi) helped us see a gap we'd missed: survivors weren't just short on food and clothing — basic hygiene items were often out of reach too. So we expanded to include toiletries.
In 2024, everything changed in two important ways. First, we received our first organised grant support, from the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa — a partnership that has made a real difference in how much we could do and how well we could do it. Second, our founder completed a postgraduate programme in Trauma Management through the Psycho-Spiritual Institute at the Lux Terra Foundation, gaining the training to address something clothing alone never could: the psychological toll of surviving violence.
That combination — new support, new expertise — led us to a decision: 2025 would be the year we added trauma healing to our outreach. We're deeply grateful to our donors, partners, and volunteers who made this possible.
What we did
This year's programme combined physical and mental health screening with art and group therapy, giving survivors a space to be seen, heard, and supported — not just clothed. The numbers were sobering: over 60% of survivors who came through our screening showed signs of severe depression and anxiety and were referred for further treatment, and nearly all who participated carried some degree of trauma requiring support.
Behind every number was a story — some almost too heavy to hold. Our counsellors met people exactly where they were, offering not just referrals but real psycho-education and coping tools they could carry forward. Alongside the emotional support, we provided basic medical screening (blood pressure, blood sugar, and malaria testing) and medication for those who needed it, along with group sessions where survivors shared their experiences with people who understood.
Art therapy: giving voice to the unspeakable
Art therapy — through music, dance, poetry, and sand/play therapy — gave survivors a way to express what words couldn't reach. Some participants who struggled to talk through their trauma verbally found they could express it through art instead; older participants, hesitant at first, gradually opened up the same way.
A family tree growing barren with every loss. A tree that once sheltered someone fleeing danger. A medicinal leaf that eased the pain of an injury sustained in the wild.
Art gave people a way to tell the truth about what they'd survived, even when they couldn't say it out loud.
Reaching communities: what we distributed
Between December 24–28, we distributed essential items across two communities — Kasuwan Magani and Ara-1. Additional items are planned for distribution by Easter.
| Item | Quantity | Reached |
|---|---|---|
| Wrappers | 220 | Women |
| Dresses | 250 | Women & girls |
| Sanitary towels | 140 | Women |
| Toothpaste | 140 | Boys |
| Bathing soap | 100 | Women |
Challenges & what we learned
Transparency matters to us as much as impact, so here's what didn't go to plan — and what we did about it.
Exchange rate & deductions
A shift in the exchange rate between our grant request and approval, plus tax and banking deductions, left a shortfall against our budget. Next time, we'll benchmark at a more conservative rate and build in bank charges upfront.
Security challenges
The communities we'd mapped for distribution were significantly affected by security concerns, so we weren't able to hold sessions there. We moved distribution and counselling to more secure locations — cost went up, but we still reached a significant number of people.
Unplanned expenses
Costs like post-counselling referrals and support for survivors who were very unwell came up during the programme. We covered what we could and crowd-funded the rest — and now have a clearer budget for next time.
A learning year
This was our first combined medical and psycho-spiritual intervention. We now know the true costs involved and are carrying those lessons into future programmes.