GiVa Peer-to-Peer Support

Full story

Some pain is easier to carry when it is recognised by someone who has walked a similar road. A counsellor can hold space with skill. A peer can hold space with recognition: "I know that empty chair. I know that date on the calendar." GiVa's peer-to-peer support programme brings those two kinds of care together.

Across our communities, people often hide grief because they do not want to burden relatives or appear weak. Men are told to stay composed. Women are expected to keep the household running. Young people are told they will understand later. The result is a lonely kind of mourning, even inside a crowded home.

Peer circles give that loneliness a room. Small groups meet with a trained facilitator. No one is required to speak. No one is asked to offer solutions. People share memories, practical struggles, and the strange mix of ordinary days and sudden waves of missing someone. Over time, participants often become a quiet network for one another: a message on an anniversary, a visit when the house feels too still.

This campaign keeps those circles running. It funds facilitator training, tea and a modest meeting space, transport for those who cannot otherwise attend, and the coordination that makes a circle reliable week after week. Reliability matters. Grief returns in waves. A cancelled group can feel like another abandonment.

NiVan Foundation believes communities heal when people are allowed to be human together. Your support does not replace professional counselling. It builds the companionship that counselling cannot fully provide: the knowledge that someone else has survived a similar night and is willing to sit through this one with you.

The need

Many bereaved people have no one who understands the particular shape of their loss. Family members are grieving too, or they urge silence in the name of strength. Formal counselling is not always available or affordable. Without a peer space, people withdraw, skip meals, or stop attending community life. Isolation after death is common and harmful. Facilitated peer circles are a necessary, low-barrier form of care so grief can be spoken aloud among people who recognise it.

How your gift helps

Funds cover trained facilitators, a regular meeting place, and simple hospitality so circles feel like a gathering, not an appointment. We support transport for elderly participants and those travelling from nearby villages. A share goes to facilitator training and supervision so groups remain safe and respectful. Remaining funds pay for outreach, printed circle guidelines, and coordination so meetings happen on a predictable schedule. Donations keep companionship available, not occasional.

Expected impact

We aim to run 8 peer circles serving about 96 participants over the campaign period, with 64 facilitated group sessions. Twelve new facilitators will complete training and sit with groups under supervision. At least 40 participants will receive a follow-up check-in around difficult dates such as death anniversaries. The measure of success is regular attendance, circles that stay open, and people who say they found someone who understood without being asked to explain everything.