<div><strong>Exciting Phase II for Sierra Leone and West Africa!</strong>
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<div><strong><em>Update Tuesday 31 March 2026</em></strong>
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<div><strong>Summary</strong>
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<div>We continue our successful and sustainable work in Sierra Leone and in the region. In December 2025, we trained about 60 people in Makeni in the Northern Province, and this time we back to train about 90-100 leaders, community reps, church communities, NGOs and more, first in Freetown (23-27 March, 2026) and Makeni (30 March-3 April).
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<div>Additionally we are building and strengthening an NVC Core Team, based on dedicated people from December, and adding to the team as we go along.
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<div>Finally, BREAKING NEWS:
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<div>We have rented a two storey house in Makeni where will reside as a collective Core Team, while doing the official opening this coming Friday, 3 April. The Centre is historic, will be called the Western Centre for Nonviolent Communication, serving all of Sierra Leone and huge parts (if not all) of the entire West African region.
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<div><strong>Background</strong>
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<div>In Sierra Leone, working with educational institutions and communities, we’ve realised that Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and empathy training are needed in Sierra Leone to heal deep societal wounds left by its past civil war and to build trust and social cohesion amid ongoing challenges like poverty and inequality.
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<div>Nonviolent Communication can help to foster understanding, repair relationships, and promote long-term reconciliation within communities.
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<div>Post-conflict Sierra Leone still faces social divisions based on past events and persistent issues like poverty and stigma. When we communicate nonviolently, we build better understanding of ourselves and others; this could help to restore hope in Sierra Leone.
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<div><strong>Nonviolent Communication</strong>
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<div>Nonviolent Communication (NVC), also known as Compassionate Communication, is a powerful approach to interpersonal communication and conflict management. Developed by Dr Marshall Rosenberg (RIP), NVC focuses on fostering empathy, understanding, and collaboration in order to build strong and healthy relationships. These intensive trainings are designed to introduce beginners to the core principles, tools and applications of NVC.
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<div><strong>Objectives</strong>
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<div>The primary objectives of the trainings are:
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<div>· To provide teachers, community leaders, students and non-project volunteers with a comprehensive understanding of the principles and framework of NVC.
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<div>· To equip participants with basic, practical tools and techniques for effective needs-based communication, conflict management and building and strengthening of relationships.
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<div>· To promote self-awareness and emotional consciousness, enabling participants to connect more deeply with themselves and others.
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<div>· To empower participants to create more harmonious and empathetic interactions in both personal and professional contexts, ensuring sustainability for further training and practice.
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<div><strong>Larger Target Audience</strong>
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<div>Our trainings are catered for about 50 selected teachers, community leaders, organisation champions, church and mosque leaders and university students who have little to no prior knowledge of nonviolent communication and are interested in improving their communication skills, managing conflicts, and fostering more empathic relationships and connections at work, in their relationships, or socially. It is suitable for individuals from diverse backgrounds, including professionals, educators, community leaders, careers, and anyone seeking to enhance their interpersonal interactions. To ensure commitment, all participants will apply with a motivation statement where they also explain how they will use their knowledge in their continuous work.
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<div><strong>MYCRO and affiliates</strong>
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<div>Because we want to get grounded with the course and to equip our team for effective, efficient and sustainable NVC practices in Sierra Leone, we’ve suggested having an extra session with a 12-person team (the SL NVC Core Team). This will give us sustainability and a better chance at keeping and strengthening knowledge and experience in Sierra Leone.
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<div>These are staff volunteers of MYCRO and our affiliate members of our organisation. It is our hope that when the core team is grounded, we will be fully empowered to train others after the facilitator has left Sierra Leone.
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<div><strong>Outcome </strong>
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<div>By the end of these intensive training, these Sierra Leonean leaders will have gained a foundation in Nonviolent Communication, enabling them to engage in more compassionate and effective communication, thereby hopefully contributing to a more empathic and harmonious society.
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<div><strong>Materials: </strong>
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<div>Handouts, workbooks and resources related to Nonviolent Communication.
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<div><strong>Trainers</strong>
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<div>Gert Skoczowsky-Danielsen (Norway), Empathy Norway, Certified Trainer in NVC
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<div>Dominic Maada Macavoray (Sierra Leone), Assistant-in-Training
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<div>In Phase I, we requested donations for up to USD 4,100.
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<div>This time, we ask for USD 10,400, which would cover
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<li>One training in Freetown at USD 5,000
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<li>One training in Makeni at USD 5,000
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<li>12 months' rent for the Centre. All office costs by be sponsored by yours truly this first year, and we truly hope to, and believe to, engage in the private market, Government entities, organisations and others so that we can "Robin Hood our way through the financial landscape and at least cover all Centre costs over time, while also providing affordable trainings for those with less resources.
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<div><strong>From MYCRO Sierra Leone, thank you very, very much for supporting our peaceful future! </strong>
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<div>NOTE:
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<div>Due to IT and wifi difficulties, we have sadly not been able to update and share this until now. We hope to be to share more updates more frequently over the next days and weeks! :)
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<div><strong>*** </strong>
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<div><strong>Update, January 2026</strong>
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<div>After having gone through our accounts (available upon request), we have seen that our original budget of USD 3,000 was too optimistic.
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<div>With additional costs for Gert's visa, compulsory airport security fees in Freetown, increased food prices, bank fees, costs for Gert's dog at a "pet hotel" in Spain while he was in Sierra Leone, some increased printing and local travel costs, the final accounts amounted to USD 4,176, totalling NOK 42,402 (exchange rate USD 1 = NOK 10,15).
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<div>Additionally, with less interest in Freetown, we moved the training to Makeni in the Northern Province, which meant we lost the initial sponsorship of lunches and the venue. We also had 14 more participants registered than planned, reaching 64 individuals from different sectors in this historic training.
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<div>With sadness, we conclude that we could have budgeted in more realistic terms and been more precise in our pre-calculations. That would have been more in line with our values and met our need for integrity, predictability and care for all our supporters.
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<div>With some tremendously generous donations from more than 25 individuals, we reached USD 2,938 this weekend. We are now humbly asking for an additional USD 1,238 (NOK 12,565) to reach our updated goal of USD 4,176.
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<div>Your support in this final leg of the fundraising effort fills us with inspiration, motivation, gratitude and hope. Thank you!
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Nicole Allen

Kristine Sanchez

James Bowen

Anonymous

Peggy Smith

Mironel de Wilde

Margaret Chotas

Afua Sanders Kim

Sini Moilanen

Anniken Beer

Muditadevi Bente Kjønstad

Leif Cedric K Gottschling

Mercedes San Roman Ruiz

Alina Vandenberghe

Mercedes San Roman

Pontus Ohrstedt

Empathy Training for Sierra Leonean Youth Leaders

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