Eritrea is more than silence and restriction, it is children seeking learning, health, and voice in a place that keeps doors closed. From highland towns near Asmara to border villages and camps beyond, their voices press through quiet and fear, and we are here to listen and act.
While schooling is officially free, many children leave early due to poverty, conscription fears, or lack of resources. Secondary school students often face military training, and rural children face long travel distances or limited access to quality teachers.
With few income sources and patchy healthcare infrastructure, many children work to support their families — especially in agriculture and informal trade. Preventable illnesses go untreated, and malnutrition persists in both rural and urban settings.
In a country with restricted press, surveillance, and limited civil society, children grow up in silence. Those who experience trauma, abuse, or grief rarely receive emotional support — and public discussion about mental health remains taboo.
Across camps in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Uganda, staff guide children through enrollment, family tracing, and the legal steps that protect their status and future. Learning centers offer language practice, catch up classes, and simple routines that calm the nervous system; counselors teach ways to name grief and carry hope. Caseworkers walk with youth who arrived alone, connect them to caregivers, and stay long after the first meeting so trust can grow. Partnerships with agencies multiply capacity while keeping care personal. A backpack becomes more than supplies; a classroom becomes more than a room; a plan becomes a path. In the uncertainty of exile, RSN holds steady so children can hold on to themselves and begin again with dignity and structure.
Through church networks and small clinics, nurses and volunteers find families who lack access to care and bring services close enough to use. Growth checks catch problems early; fortified porridge and vitamins rebuild strength; mothers learn how to keep water safe and babies well. Children with disabilities are not overlooked; referrals and follow up keep progress from slipping; visits continue when harvests fail or transport breaks. The work is quiet and consistent; it treats health as a right rather than a favor; it respects privacy in a place where openness can be risky. Parents leave with knowledge, not just medicine; children leave with energy for school and play. In neighborhoods that feel forgotten, this presence says something simple and powerful: you are seen, and your child matters.
Lines formed in the dust as children received backpacks, uniforms, and materials that turned waiting into study; teachers stood nearby to register classes and set times for the first lessons. Names were written carefully inside front covers; new letters were practiced with pride; small lights were charged for evening review. Volunteers walked tent to tent to ensure no one was missed; language guides helped families navigate enrollment and the services attached. The project offered more than tools, it offered reentry to a rhythm that heals: wake, eat, learn, play, rest. In camps where days blur, routine brings identity back; a bag on the shoulder becomes a promise that school continues. Hope felt tangible, and the future felt a little closer.
Families gathered for talks that were part clinic, part community table; health workers taught breastfeeding, safe storage, and ways to use local crops for affordable meals. Children were screened and fed; caregivers practiced new recipes; water filters and simple charts went home in careful hands. Questions long held in private were answered with patience; myths gave way to practical steps; neighbors compared notes and agreed to keep one another accountable. The tone was hopeful and respectful; the goal was strength that lasts beyond a single distribution. For many, it was the first child focused health session they had ever attended, and it began a habit of protection that can carry through lean months.
Restores sight in Eritrea through surgical outreach and training with the Ministry of Health.
Prevents avoidable blindness in Eritrea by training eye health workers and supporting national eye health programs.
Delivers improved cookstoves, water access, and climate smart agriculture with programs in Eritrea.
Supports projects in Eritrea such as maternal care and the Abraha Bahta School for the Blind, with online donations via PayPal.
Focused on Eritrea, upgrading neonatal and pediatric care and training local staff.