31-03-2023 | di COOPI

Central African Republic. Julie's dream of becoming a doctor

Julie (fictitious name) found herself on the street at the age of 14 with nothing. When she met COOPI-Cooperazione Internazionale, she had the chance to mend a relationship with her mother and begin her studies. Since 2021, COOPI has been caring for more than 2,600 other boys and girls in the Central African Republic thanks to the Unicef funded project, 'Care for vulnerable children and support for the empowerment of adolescents/youth and community mechanisms in the fight against violence against children in the prefectures of Haute Kotto and Basse Kotto'.  

Julie always has to walk at least 30 minutes to get to the project site, the Lapala neighbourhood. Thanks to the COOPI project, however, Julie, who previously found herself on the street with nothing, now has the opportunity not only to study but also to pursue her dream and try to become a doctor. 

In fact, the project plans to address the enormous child protection needs in the two prefectures concerned, through holistic care (psychosocial, medical, legal, food), and the protection of sexual and gender-based forms of violence, as well as a programme of care for children associated with armed groups, so as to enable them to reintegrate into the community and socio-economically.

"My life has changed a lot for the better: this change is due to the multifaceted support of the NGO COOPI towards me. Thanks to them, I hope my dreams can really come true".

As Julie's biological mother also says, thanks to the mediation carried out by COOPI, she realised how her daughter was a victim of the situation and how awareness-raising programmes on coping mechanisms for survivors of sexual or gender-based violence, as well as violence by armed groups, are a crucial step in the reconstruction of a country and entire populations affected by crisis and conflict.

In the context of the crisis in the Central African Republic, COOPI is committed to protecting the most vulnerable: internally displaced persons (IDPs), survivors of gender-based violence, and communities affected by persecution and harassment by armed groups. Psychosocial support is crucial in these situations and the COOPI team is focusing as much as possible on how recognising the rights and duties of children within a community allows them to develop better and enables beneficiaries not only to imagine a different future, but also to believe in change: 

"When I grow up, I would like to become a doctor and work in a humanitarian organisation to help the most vulnerable communities."

This is Julie's dream.