Healing Homes: Rebuilding Family Life in Six Zamfara Communities

Healing Homes tells the story of the Multi-Sectoral Integrated Resilience Programme in Zamfara State, implemented by Life Helpers Initiative with funding from UNICEF and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO / UK aid).

"Every story here happened on a mat, under a tree, in a borrowed room. None of it required a generator, a new building, or a budget line for bricks."

Why a family-resilience programme

Zamfara State has experienced sustained insecurity and displacement; several activities took place inside IDP camps, including Gidan Gona IDP Camp in Shinkafi LGA and a camp in Zurmi LGA. Caregivers under stress are more likely to rely on harsh discipline, adolescents lack safe spaces, and children without birth certificates remain invisible to protective systems.

The programme covers Bakura, Birnin Magaji, Bungudu, Shinkafi, Tsafe and Zurmi LGAs.

By the numbers

| Activity | Result | |---|---| | Positive Parenting Session 1 (19–25 April 2026) | 597 caregivers (151 M / 446 F) | | Positive Parenting Sessions 3–6 (6–31 May 2026) | 608 caregivers (136 M / 472 F) | | Community facilitators and caseworkers trained | 25 | | Baseline pre-assessment respondents | 554 (71.3% the child's biological mother) | | Reflective Dialogues on GBV and child protection | 4, around 40 leaders each | | Dignity kit distributions (March 2026) | Zurmi, Shinkafi, Bakura, Birnin Magaji |

Session 1 attendance was remarkably even across the six LGAs (97–101 caregivers each), and sessions continued even after a security scare in Birnin Magaji.

Six ways the programme showed up

1. Adolescent life skills: gender and sex roles, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, STI awareness and the risks of psychoactive substances (35–41 adolescents per sitting).
2. Child-Friendly Spaces: storytelling on honesty, hygiene and peaceful conflict resolution (16–22 children per sitting).
3. Reflective Dialogue: traditional and religious leaders on GBV and shared responsibility for child protection, including a session at the Emir's Palace, Tsafe.
4. Positive Parenting: caring family bonds, feelings, problem-solving and managing conflict without violence.
5. Birth registration and CB-CPCs: a registration officers' review at the Women & Children Welfare Clinic, Tsafe, and CB-CPC orientation and review meetings in five LGAs.
6. Dignity and inclusion: dignity kits with deliberate outreach to persons with disabilities; the Zurmi LGA Chairman personally took part in the handover, and a Chief Imam joined LHI staff in Birnin Magaji.

What the field taught us

Participatory methods (discussion, storytelling, role-play) drove strong attendance, and training local facilitators kept sessions running through insecurity. Father participation remains low (22–26% of attendees), so the next phase will design outreach specifically for fathers, add modules on stress management and communication, and measure behaviour change at home, not only attendance.

See the project dossier