RefugePoint

Education support is one of the core services that RefugePoint’s Urban Refugee Protection Program offers to its clients in Nairobi, Kenya. This vital component of support is not only crucial for children to attain an education, it also enables refugee families to engage in livelihoods and other activities aimed at boosting their self-reliance.

Nzinga, a mother of nine, fled the civil war in Congo with her family and arrived in Kenya in 2015. Determined to give her children an education, she engaged in a small business selling African fabric and bags. With the small income she earned, she was able to enroll some of her children, including her son Olivier*, in school.

Even though life was difficult back at home, Olivier was determined to perform better than all the other students in his class.

I performed very well in mathematics and English and got 395 marks out of 500 and was the third student overall in my school in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).”

“I remember being very anxious the day the KCPE results were released. I wanted to know how I had performed and what marks I had attained. That evening, my sister dialed the USSD code to check my results and I couldn’t believe it! I was very happy! I didn’t even sleep! My whole family was happy and we stayed awake long into the night celebrating the results,” recalls Olivier.

Olivier is one of the many refugee children performing exceptionally well in school. However, due to a lack of scholarship opportunities, many like Olivier fail to move onto secondary school or higher education where they can pursue their studies. “I am hopeful that I’ll get someone to assist me to further my education. I want to become an accountant or a lawyer when I complete my studies,” Olivier shared with us.

In his free time, Olivier enjoys listening to the piano, which he says is his favorite instrument. “I have never actually played one, but I like the sound of it, and I think I would really enjoy playing it,” says Olivier with a smile on his face.

*Name changed for protection purposes.

After her brothers were kidnapped and her father was killed, Safiya was forced to flee her home in Ethiopia while she was still a young girl. She eventually arrived in Nairobi after years of displacement, yet encountered challenges in the new city as well. Safiya and her two young boys received rent, food, and health support from RefugePoint, which allowed her to invest more time in her business making and selling traditional Oromo beadwork. Crafting beautiful handwoven designs, she sells her work to the Oromo community in Nairobi for special occasions like weddings. “I have hope in what I am making with my hands. I believe in it, I believe in myself,” Safiya shared. She’s now able to afford rent with her earnings and is working towards self-reliance.

“I am content with what I have. I do not seek assistance from other people. I have a plan to expand this work by hiring people to work under me.”

In October 2022, Henry, a refugee from Congo, received a phone call that forever changed his life and the lives of his two young sisters, Daniella and Prisca – they were finally going to be resettled in Canada. After their mother Wanga passed away in 2020, Henry and his sisters were orphaned, and Henry took on the responsibility of supporting Daniella and Prisca, who were just 17 and 9 years old at the time. 

“This opportunity is a big one for us,” said Henry. “There are so many people searching for this opportunity. Life was not easy. Working as a hairdresser to provide for my siblings was tough,” shared Henry. “I would often wonder: What is their future? What is our future? But this resettlement means a lot to us,” said Henry. “I hope to get a job so I can earn a decent living. My dream is to keep us together.”

When Henry received the phone call—asking him to report to the Canadian embassy for a visa interview, he was in disbelief. It had been over five years since he and his family had completed their resettlement interview with RefugePoint in 2017. “I remember I owed Safaricom (the phone company) 350 shillings (about $3 USD) for airtime (talk time),” said Henry. “I only had 500 shillings (about $4) in my pocket. I decided to pay the credit so that I could call my sister to inform her of the good news.”

“He was so excited he couldn’t keep it to himself,” added Daniella. “He called immediately to tell me the news and I couldn’t believe it!” said Daniella smiling. Henry and his siblings were going to live their mothers wish of giving them a better life. Their mother’s desire to keep them together and provide a better life for them was strong. Henry was just two years old when he and his family were forced to flee their home in Congo. 

In the chaos of fleeing, Henry and his mother were separated from Daniella. Daniella and her grandmother ended up seeking refuge in Kenya soon after they fled, while Henry and his mother arrived years later, in 2015. Henry, his mother, and his young sister Prisca lived in a local Congolese-led church for many weeks before they were able to get their own place with support from RefugePoint. “Our mother met one of her old friends from Congo who introduced us to RefugePoint in 2016. We were given all the services—counseling, food support, school fees, a business grant, medical support, everything!” Henry shared. Throughout this time, Henry and his mother and sister had no idea where Daniella was. 

“My mother had been asking around for Daniella for a while. One day, a friend of hers said, ‘I know a Congolese grandmother who is living with her granddaughter who resembles you. Maybe I should link you two, perhaps she could be your daughter,’ recalled Henry. When that day arrived, Henry, his mother and young Prisca set out for a Congolese church in Kawangware, not knowing what to expect.

“My mother saw them and started crying,” said Henry. “I was staring in disbelief, asking, ‘so, this is my sister?’ recalled Henry. “I last saw my sister when I was two years old. I couldn’t recognize her. She didn’t even know she had a young sister.” 

“It was overwhelming!” Daniela told us of the reunion. “We had not seen each other for a long time. Henry was all grown up and so was I,” said Daniella. “Seeing my mom for the first time was a big joy,”  Daniella said, smiling. “When I looked at her I saw myself because my mom and I used to resemble each other. I had missed that motherly love. She hugged me so tight,” said Daniella. “I used to stay with my grandma and I needed a sibling. So, when they came I was very happy because I was no longer bored.”

After reuniting with Daniella, Henry and his family all moved into one house. RefugePoint supported Henry and his siblings to re-enroll into primary school to continue their education. However, due to the language barrier, Henry dropped out of school and began training in hairdressing and nail art. RefugePoint granted Henry’s mother $280 (KSH 40,000) which she used to start a business selling local foods. When Wanga passed away in September 2020, Henry took on the responsibility of caring for his young sisters. Upon completing her secondary education, Daniella, with support from RefugePoint, enrolled in computer studies.  

Despite the fact that Henry was doing everything in his power to support his family, he had trouble finding work, and life in Nairobi was not easy for the siblings. “Being orphans in a foreign country is tough,” Daniella shared. “At least we have that hundred percent assurance that things will be okay compared to how we were here (in Nairobi).”

In February 2023, Henry, Prisca, and Daniella were resettled to Canada. 

Above, Henry (left) and his siblings, Daniella and Priscah (center) pose for a photo with their former case manager, Carol Muli (right), when they visited the RefugePoint Offices in Nairobi to bid staff goodbye. ©RefugePoint/Diana Karua

“I have no words to explain how excited I am. My daughter has never seen me in real life, and we only see each other when I call on video. I can’t wait to meet my daughter. To hold her in my arms for the first time even though she’s six years old and going to school,” Daniel shared with us. 

Daniel is a refugee from Congo who was recently resettled to the U.S. and reunited with his family, including his wife and daughter, after more than seven years of separation. Daniel’s story has a special place in our hearts at RefugePoint, because Daniel was a member of our team, and served as a RefugePoint Community Navigator for four years. 

RefugePoint’s team of Community Navigators (CNs) are refugees who live and work in the many various areas of Nairobi, and who have been engaged and trained by RefugePoint to provide valuable information about health and wellness to their respective communities. CNs are an essential part of the RefugePoint team. According to Jacob Bonyo, RefugePoint’s Kenya Country Director, CNs help to identify other refugees within their communities who are struggling and connect them with services such as food assistance, medical support, and education. 

In 2009, Daniel was forced to flee his home in Congo due to war, and became a refugee in Kenya. “Life was very hard for refugees because we couldn’t access any opportunities or jobs because we were not yet integrated into the community. We struggled and struggled until a door was opened. Some refugees were given employment opportunities, others opened businesses, and some took up casual labor.”  

Many governments deny refugees access to public services and the right to work, leaving refugees excluded from the social and economic life of their host countries.

Although life in Kenya was initially difficult, Daniel shared that things were more bearable once such opportunities opened up. “I started enjoying the fruits of Africa as an African living in Africa,” says Daniel. “I didn’t experience much discrimination, although the employment system didn’t allow us to get wages that we could have gotten since work permits were an issue for refugees.” 

In 2015, Daniel married a Congolese woman he met in Kenya. Shortly after, his wife was resettled to the U.S. Daniel stayed behind, hoping that he would be reunited with his wife. “Although it was a good thing for her,” said Daniel, “it was difficult for me as we were expecting our first child. The loneliness was too much to bear. So, I focused on my work while constantly keeping in touch with her. Daniel’s wife left Kenya on December 1, 2015, and his daughter was born in 2016. “Not being there when my daughter was born was the most difficult for me,” recalls Daniel. After waiting for seven years to be reunited with his family, Daniel was completely overjoyed when he received the news that he would finally be able to join his wife and daughter.

Like Daniel, many refugees experience the pain of being separated from their families during resettlement. Although Daniel was resettled through another organization, refugee resettlement is a longstanding priority of RefugePoint. Since the agency was founded in 2005, we have helped over 104,767 refugees access resettlement and other pathways to safety.

“I like how RefugePoint has stood with refugees,” said Daniel when he visited the RefugePoint office for his farewell event. “It has helped to shape me in different ways because I learned how to help people and to accompany those who are helpless. I even gained experience in counseling to the extent that some people call me a counselor,” Daniel said with a smile. 

As he departed, Daniel shared how he hopes family reunification will be easier in the future. “Family is everything,” said Daniel. “Without family, life does not improve. Keeping families apart doesn’t give a real sense of resettlement; it is like separation. But when it helps to reunite people, resettlement gets its meaning.”

“In my culture, a woman has no voice nor does she get education. She is supposed to clean the cattle shed, look after the home and fetch water or firewood,” Umutoni shared with us. 

Umutoni, a widow and single mother of two boys is a refugee from Congo who fled to Kenya in 2016. “I used to be a farmer. I never used to go to the market to buy anything. Everything I needed was right there on the farm. But my life has changed,” said Umutoni. In 2019, Umutoni enrolled in RefugePoint’s Business Development Skills training, where she learned how to prepare a business plan and budget, and was given the opportunity to present her business idea. “I wanted to start a business selling cassava leaves, peanut flour and Mawesa (a local cooking oil from Congo).” Umutoni shared with us. A week after completing the training, RefugePoint granted Umutoni KES 31,000 to start her business. “The day I received the grant was the first time I ever held that amount of money in my hands,” Umutoni recalled, laughing. “Truthfully, I did not sleep that night. I put the money under my mattress, thinking it could be stolen. But thankfully, it was not.”

With the business grant, Umutoni was able to buy groundnuts, a grinding machine, cassava leaves and Mawesa. “It had been a long time since I had eaten that food, so I prepared it for my family. That night, I felt as though a new light had come into my home and my life. I was very happy.” 

Umutoni has been able to locally source all of the vegetables and raw materials for her business. “Most of my clients are Congolese, Burundians, Rwandese and some Kenyans who now enjoy the delicacy,”  Umutoni shared. “In French they say, ‘I feel I am ‘fière’ (proud) of my life now. I’m no longer seeking assistance, I’m confident in my business and now I have my own money. There was a time we couldn’t even afford to buy drinking water, but because of this business I can pay rent, buy my own food, pay school fees for my two children, and take care of my family. My life has really changed and I’m very grateful to RefugePoint and all the staff who helped me along the way.”

As we mark the International Women’s Day, Umutoni encourages other women to have confidence in themselves. “When a woman has her own money, she can give herself anything she needs. She doesn’t rely on anyone else for her needs. She values herself as she’s worth something,” says Umutoni. 

Above, Umutoni when she visited RefugePoint Offices in Nairobi. ©RefugePoint/Diana Karua

“I’m proud of how far I have come. When I look back, compared to where I am, I feel I’m in a better place,” Mama Juma* tells us. Today, Mama Juma, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, runs a successful business selling shoes and is enrolled in beauty school. She dreams of being a hairdresser and hopes to gain skills that will be vital to earning a good income. Today, Mama Juma is able to purchase basic necessities like food for her family and house supplies. She is also able to cover the cost of tuition fees for two of her four children to attend school. But for Mama Juma, getting to this place of stability has been a winding journey with many twists, turns, and roadblocks. 

Throughout her life, Mama Juma endured many forms of abuse. When she arrived in Nairobi in 2018, she was forced to live in one small room with 12 people. She struggled to support her children. “In the past I used to think so little of myself. I would blame God and ask why I was like this. I would ask myself, ‘Did God create me to come and suffer? Why did he give me so many children yet I don’t have the ability to care for them?’ Each time I would blame myself,” Mama Juma shared with us. 

In 2018, Mama Juma met Akram, a RefugePoint Community Navigator. After learning about her story, Akram introduced Mama Juma to Carol, a RefugePoint Social Worker, who interviewed Mama Juma about the challenges that she and her children were facing. RefugePoint helped to stabilize Mama Juma and her children by providing food support, rent, medical, counseling and education support. Mama Juma also completed RefugePoint’s business development training and received a small grant which she used to start a business selling french fries and mandazis (a type of fried bread). Mama Juma left an abusive relationship and found a place to live independently with her children. 

Things were going well for Mama Juma and her family until one morning in 2021 when she was woken by screams from people outside of her home who were trying to break down her door to save her and her children from a fire that had started at her neighbor’s house. “I lost everything,” Mama Juma shared with us. “My neighbor and her two children died in that fire. Still, RefugePoint stood by me. My case worker, Carol, accompanied and helped me throughout. Sometimes when I remember all this my heart is in so much pain. Carol followed up and RefugePoint helped us to start over. I bought a new mattress, food, uniforms for the kids and other household items. I started receiving food rations again and RefugePoint paid my rent. Later, I was given money to restart my business.” 

It’s been 12 years since Mama Juma was forced to flee her home and two years since she narrowly escaped the fire that claimed the lives of her neighbors. Mama Juma has worked hard to create stability for her family, and she has done so with great success. “My hard work has enabled me to buy curtains, seats, and a television from the profit of my business. All my children – three boys and one girl – are doing well. My greatest desire is for my first born to excel in school and finish his education. If he could continue building his skills and finish his studies, I’ll be very happy. I want all my children to be educated and not to lack food.” 

“I have come from a bad place. The life I lived in the past was very bad. I hope for a better life; to be able to forget all the things I underwent. I know I have to keep working hard. All in all, I am very grateful.” 

*Pseudonym

Above, Mama Juma preparing French fries for her children. ©RefugePoint/Diana Karua

Watch Mama Juma video >>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyx_jDlkDT8

After war between different clans led to political instability and famine in his home country of Somalia, Mohamed was forced to flee his home at the age of two. In 1992, he and his family sought safety in Dadaab Ifo camp. There, Mohamed completed his primary and secondary education. Mohamed’s dream was to become a clinical officer. 

“I knew most of our people needed doctors who can help them in treating diseases and coming up with the right diagnosis. So, I knew I was really needed by the community and that’s why I opted for a course in the medical field.” But Mohamed’s path to fulfilling his dream was a winding journey. After completing secondary school, Mohamed was presented with an opportunity to pursue a diploma in early childhood education. 

After being a teacher for a few years, Mohamed was finally able to pursue his dream of becoming a clinical officer. 

“Since I became a clinical officer, I have helped many people in diagnosing and treating some common diseases,” Mohamed shared with us. Mohamed interned for one year at Garissa County Referral Hospital, and then worked in private hospitals as a medical practitioner.

In 2019, Mohamed learned about the existence of RefugePoint’s Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP), which connects refugees with the right skills, education and language abilities, with employers looking to fill job vacancies in Canada. Mohamed  applied and was invited to interview for a job as a Continuing Care Assistant in Nova Scotia. 

“My experience with RefugePoint was very wonderful. In fact, they were like a parent. They assisted me with tips to succeed in my interview, gave me parental care, facilitated my transport and exam fees, and helped me to prepare for the interview. They were very wonderful and I really congratulate them and I’m very grateful because there are very many people in the community who have proper skills and education but they just happen to be refugees and they need to be assisted the way I have been assisted,” Mohamed shared with us. 

“I’d like to encourage my fellow colleagues who happen to be refugees with the right skills, knowledge and attitude and with a desire to deliver their skills but there is no place to work because they don’t have the right documentation. I’d like those who are students to work hard and get good grades and apply for the EMPP program so that if there are jobs abroad where their skills are needed, they may get the opportunity. I’d encourage them that there is a way to go. It is not like before where your hard work would still leave you in the camps. I believe if you work hard you can reach your targeted dreams.”

“Going to Canada as an EMPP candidate, I believe that I will showcase my skills because I know it is highly needed. I’ll practice and become more competent. I know I will meet many people from different cultures and religions and it will be an opportunity to share ideas and give proper care to the patients I will be responsible for. It is my hope that once in Canada, I will continue my education so that I will be in a position to become more competent. I will miss my family as they are not traveling with me, but I hope to keep in touch with them. I’ll also miss the good people of Kenya who I’m leaving behind,” Mohamed shared with us. 

Mohamed traveled to Canada in September and is now working in a long-term care facility in Nova Scotia. Like Mohamed, the EMPP has facilitated over 123 candidates to receive job offers from employers in Canada. Of those, so far 12 have moved to Canada as permanent residents while the remaining 111 are in different stages of processing.

Above, Mohammed when he visited RefugePoint Offices in Nairobi to bid staff goodbye. ©RefugePoint/Diana Karua

My name is Felix*, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am married with seven children. Raising children in the civil war was truly challenging. We would move from one place to the other and back, trying to get some sense of security, but life was difficult no matter where we went. I had a sick child and getting treatment for him was next to impossible. We tried all we could but were not able to get the required treatment. In 2016, we fled to Kenya. When we got here, things were a bit calm and so my family and I felt safe and my child was able to get the treatment she needed. 

In 2017, we were introduced to RefugePoint through a fellow refugee who referred us for support. RefugePoint took up our case and helped us to access treatment for our child. My family was also provided with monthly food supplies, house rent and school fees for two of my children. We were given a grant to start a business which my wife and I used to set-up a business selling African fabric. We would sell the fabric in Nairobi and would sometimes even travel to Mombasa to sell the fabric. This enabled us to financially meet the other needs of our family. Additionally, RefugePoint put us on the path to resettlement.   

I am grateful to God that after five years of waiting, my family and I have finally been granted resettlement in the U.S. I have really high hopes for a bright future and I am hopeful that now, all my children will be able to go to school and our lives will change for the better. 

I hope my children can go to school once we are settled  and that I can get employment so as to provide for my family. My children are really hopeful and excited at the prospect of being able to go to school. I also expect us all to contribute to the local community where we are being resettled. 

I thank God for keeping us safe during our years back in Congo despite the challenges we experienced, and for bringing us safely into Kenya. We are very grateful to RefugePoint for their support during the most difficult time of our lives. 

*Pseudonym 

Above is a picture of different refugee families being taken through the resettlement interview process by RefugePoint Staff. ©RefugePoint/Diana Karua